Shoot Your Shot

Chapter 14

Hours later when he woke up, he wanted to run. Remembering the night before and hearing the man say those words to him confounded him. It made him happy, so much happier than it should have considering the short amount of time they'd been together, but it also terrified him. Firstly, because he'd clearly said it first, unless his very well spoken lover had some how messed that up, which he doubted. That knowledge alone was enough to fray his nerves to nothing. Secondly, while he didn't think Pentious ever would, the constant fear of being hurt by someone else was there and more prominent than ever in his position. He was an Overlord, for fucks sake, people tried to take advantage of them all the time. That was another thing, he hadn't even told Pentious the real state of everything in the Family and how everything worked, which any dedicated relationship he had should know. They deserved that; he deserved that, at the very least. Instead of leaving, though, he simply sat up in the bed and hugged his knees to his chest, watching the snake as he slept.

How long had it been since he'd had a real relationship, or even attempted to have one? A serious one that involved more than just sex, but all of the emotions and connections one had to offer. He couldn't even remember anymore, which said a lot about it. Lightly brushing a strand of hair from Pentious' face, the snake shifted wrapping around him more and pulling him back down to lay on his chest. Smiling, he let his lover shift them until he was comfortably wound up in him. He knew that, if he'd still been tired, he probably would have passed out again in this position, but instead, he was wide awake. Wrapping his own arms around his lover, he just let the time tick by while listening to the rain outside. Eventually they would have to get up, he knew that, but he didn't really want to. Not until his stomach growled loudly. "Should we get up and eat?" He tensed up the moment he heard Pentious' voice, holding his breath. After a second, he relaxed and sighed.

"I guess we should. Other wise we'll both be pretty ravenous later." The snake opened his eyes and looked up at him, and for some reason he felt like he was falling even deeper. Cupping his lovers face, he lightly pulled the snake up for a kiss, and Pentious cooperated easily. "Che cosa mi fai? From the first moment we met, to now, I still can't figure it out." The serpent hummed and gave him another, light little kiss.

"Well, I might be able to answer the question, if I knew what you'd said." They both burst into a fit of laughter that left them breathless. When Pentious released him, he felt the tiniest pin prick of loss, but it didn't last long since he pushed himself to follow the man into the bathroom. He had only known showers to be two things; lonely, and sexual. The only times he'd ever showered with anyone, it always ended in sex, but today it didn't. There was touching, of course, and many kisses, but it had all been affectionate rather than needy. Even making breakfast had been full of bad jokes, from both of them, and a ridiculous amount of distractions that had almost started a fire at least once. And throughout all of this, it never once felt awkward or forced for him. He didn't feel like he had to say or do anything to push the conversation, never felt stifled, or unwanted. Most importantly, though, he didn't want it to end.

So, of course, once they finished eating and moved into the drawing room to cuddle, his phone rang. He cursed his position, cursed the need to answer it that fought with the need to let it go to voicemail so that he didn't have to get up from where he was comfortably laying on Pentious' chest. "Cazzo Madre di Dio." Snatching up the device, he answered the call and put the phone to his ear. "Cosa vuoi?" He hadn't even bothered to look at the caller ID for the call.

"È un modo per parlare a tuo Padre?" Rolling his eyes, he pushed the rest of the way up and stood, giving Pentious an apologetic look. His lover just looked at him with sympathy and mouthed that it was fine. Stepping into the hallway, he turned his attention back to his phone.