Having Maki take a day to be with him made Tatsumi feel special. Rather than working late into the night, Maki had decided to call it a night around eight so the three of them had returned home for a late dinner. Filling him in on what happened with Hizuru, his husband was going to find a way to bring him closer to the work he was doing.

Thinking he had the drop of Maki, Tatsumi set his alarm early, only to wake up late without his comms and find his wayward husband waiting for him in the living area. On the kitchen counter sat his breakfast, and Maki had the television on mute so he wouldn’t wake him up. Instead of heading to the kitchen, Tatsumi made a beeline for his husband, climbing into his lap and wrapping his arms around him

“I wanted to surprise you”

“Mmm… Maybe I wanted to surprise you, too?”

“You did that. Is there a reason you took my comms?”

“I’ve turned both of them off. Li knows what our travel plans are, and he knows to only interrupt us if war suddenly breaks out or something happens on Terra. He’s gone to see Molly, meaning we have this place to ourself”

Tatsumi looked down at his husband. It was the last day of his bleeding, and Maki hadn’t attempted to be intimate knowing he general felt pretty crappy while it happened

“Oh?”

“Yep. We’ve got an hour and a half before our bus”

“You read my travel plan?”

“I memorised it all. Li woke me up with his alarm so I decided to stay up and make the most of today. I’ve packed for both of us overnight, even dug out snacks and meals…”

“I could get used to this”

“You should. I have a lot to talk to you about later on when we’re all alone”

Something told Tatsumi to accept it and not to ask questions now

“Okay, then should I take a shower?”

“Mhmm… though I’m pretty sure you’ll soaked with sweat later”

Tatsumi fluttered his eyelashes 

“Do you promise?”

Laughing, his husband scooped him up. The omega suddenly finding himself being carried

“Look here you, don’t go being so tempting or we’ll never get out of here”

“What if that’s my plan?”

“Then I’m going to have to spank you for misbehaving”

“That’s not a complete turn off”

Carried to the bathroom, his husband stood him up when they got to the doorway. Maki seemed to be in just as good of a mood as Tatsumi and in the mood to spoil him further 

“Shower while I make you a coffee”

“I thought we were flirting”

“You’re flirting and I’m resisting my hardest. You don’t make that easy at all”

“You haven’t even given me a kiss good morning”

“I did, you were too busy snoring to notice”

“Then what about my kiss now?”

Maki obliged, placing a single small peck against Tatsumi’s waiting lips

“There. Be a good omega and wait for later”

“I don’t want to wait”

“Good things come to those who do. My husband told me that”

Tatsumi faked a pout

“Fine. I guess I’ll shower all alone. By myself. Without my husband”

“Your husband’s an idiot for letting someone as hot as you shower alone”

“He’s not… he just seems to have other plans”

“I know for a fact he does and that means you might be having a late night”

“Does he promise?”

“Mhmm… but you have to shower now”

Using his fingertips, Tatsumi pushed Maki back out the bathroom

“Then you have to make me a coffee”

“I already said I would. I left your clothes on the cabinet. You don’t need to rush”

“Maybe I want to? Maybe I want to spend every moment with you?”

“And maybe I don’t want to go to hospital because you slipped while rushing”

“Fair point. I’ll be good”

“That’s my man. Don’t even think about throwing yourself at the floor”

Tatsumi looked down at the bathroom floor, acting like he was considering it before shaking his head

“Nope. It’s doing nothing for me”

“Good. Now shower and get ready. We have a whole day of adventuring ahead”

Catching the bus south after breakfast, Tatsumi wished he’d had his comms to take photos of Maki. His husband had gone completely overboard with making feel like the only omega in the world. He’d found his physical bank card, something Tatsumi had lost long ago once everything had been transferred and set up on his comms, so Maki had paid for their fare south. Being a regular route, and seeing it was only an hour trip to their stop, the fee wasn’t much yet he still appreciated that his husband had thought of something so obvious. Gone were the days of being able to watch Maki out the corner of his eye as his alpha watched the countryside. If Maki ever asked him to pilot he would, but only for him. Their time together was too precious and he really did fear the day he wouldn’t be able to see Maki’s face so had to make the most of the moments he could.

Arriving in Attle, they got off. Maki shouldering the one backpack he’d packed while maintaining a firm hold on Tatsumi’s hand. Smiling at him, his husband had no clue how much he adored him. Caught staring again, his alpha ducked his head and blushed a little, both actions incredibly cute, even the huff he followed it up with was just as cute

“Where do we go now?”

“We walk. It’s a walk to the camp grounds and the start of the trail. According to the stuff online it won’t be busy because this is the off season”

“And if it is?”

“Who cares? I’m here with you and that’s where I want to be”

“Do you know the way?”

“I thought you memorised it?”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t know when to ask for directions”

“I haven’t been here before, but I have a pretty good idea. Let me know if you can’t keep up”

Tugging him into him, Maki kissed him softly

“I can. It’s you who needs to let me know”

“Oh, cocky are we?”

“I’m a prime young alpha in the peak of his life”

“I’ll remember that when I’m waiting for you. Do you want to talk about things now or later on?”

“I want to, but we need to wait a little longer. Is that okay?”

“It’ll have to be”

“I’m sorry”

“I get that sometimes things need to wait to be said. I’m happy to get the day with you”

His husband bit his lip as he looked away… Tatsumi now doubting that wanted to be there

“Unless you’d rather go back?”

“No. It’s not that… I needed to bring you away from everyone, but when I tell you I’m worried that you’re going to think that’s the only reason why I wanted to go camping. It’s not… I can’t explain but… but I wanted to be alone with you too, okay?”

His husband was doing nothing to make Tatsumi reassured. It was something Maki couldn’t say around Li, and something that Tatsumi wouldn’t be happy to hear…

“Let’s get going then”

Thanks to the awkwardness of that conversation, the conversation between them as they walked from Attle to the camp ground was made up of awkward small talk. Tatsumi wasn’t about to say something they’d both be hurt by, like accusing Maki of cheating, yet clearly the conversation was going to suck. He’d been so happy to spend the day with his husband and now he was thrown into limbo over whatever this issue was. Reaching the camp ground, Tatsumi kept going to the start of the hiking trail, his hand long cold since Maki had let it go. If his husband hadn’t cheated on him, then what could be so bad as to leave their comms behind and run away? Had the two weeks away been so stressful that his alpha now wanted to leave J10? Did he feel like he would be hurting Tatsumi and making him give up his class? Or was he applying for a transfer and didn’t intend to live with him anymore?

“Slow down or we’ll burn out before we get there”

So lost in thought, Tatsumi hadn’t noticed how fast his pace was. It was as if he were trying to run away from his husband without actually running. Stopping, his heart couldn’t take any more of his thoughts 

“Can you tell me now?”

“Can we wait a little longer?”

“Then can you give me something? Anything? My thoughts are out of control”

“I need to be sure no one’s listening in…”

“Then… then is it about us? Or work?”

“Work. They told me not to tell anyone, but I can’t not tell you. Even if they throw me in prison, I can’t keep this from you”

“Are you planning on transferring?”

“No. No. Noooo. It’s not like that”

“You could have at least said that”

“I don’t want anyone to hear us talk… I visited an underground prison and it’s fucking horrible”

Tatsumi had a realisation. In Maki’s interview he’s stressed that a third party was involved in what had happened near C3’s Justice Hall. Maybe Molly and Francis had something to with things? No… They wouldn’t willingly… Why did his head have to go to the worst when Maki had been so attentive and affectionate with him that morning? He had to show more patience with his alpha

“They’re not the best. I’m sorry. I don’t know why my brain went to the worst”

“Because you don’t know what I know. Its eating me up inside”

“I’ll try to be patient. If I start storming off again, grab me by the arm and pull me back”

“I’ll try… I didn’t bring any tech me so I can’t tell for sure when the coast will be clear”

“It should be only sparsely monitored along the paths and maybe when we get there… Then again, this place isn’t Terra”

“I’d still rather tell you when we’re sitting down and can talk it out”

“Okay, okay. Point taken. Would you hold my hand now? It’s lonely”

“I don’t want you to think I’m being sweet to manipulate you”

“Maki, just hold my damn hand”

Resuming their hike, Tatsumi had chosen one where there was a small amount of climbing. Being physical felt satisfying, and it gave a good distraction from the upcoming conversation while they concentrated on getting up the rocks in their way safely. The rocks were the halfway point according to the map, but the way Maki draped himself down on the grass made it seem as if he thought they’d reached their destination. Squatting down beside his husband, Tatsumi pulled out the closet bottle of water, taking a few small sips, then holding it in his mouth before swallowing

“Here, have something to drink”

“Are we there?”

“No”

Maki groaned

“You picked a hard one, didn’t you?”

“A bit, but online says it’s worth it. Do you need a break?”

“Yeah… um… now I’m wondering if I should tell you now while there’s a chance to turn back”

“Do you want to tell me now?”

“I want it in the open. Hey, did you know the Hadre family came from the Desolate Belt?”

Seeing Maki wanted to take a break, Tatsumi sat down next to him. He missed Donny and hadn’t thought he’d be talking about him unless Donny called him and gave him something to talk to Maki about

“I had no idea”

“Neither did I. His family were like super super rich but moved to the inner rings and left the belt behind”

“Yeah? How did you find that out?”

“One of the CO’s on C3. Um… we’re on their suspect list and… and they thought we had something to do with what happened at the Justice Hall”

Tatsumi cocked his head

“You’re leaving out the middle. What does Donny have to do with this?”

Maki was barely talking above a mumble, the alpha weighed down by the weight of his words

“Because we’re friends with Hadres. They want me to keep investigating things here. That guy… that one who lost half his leg… they were trying to create a distraction and stage a prisoner escape. C3 were letting it happen to catch them in the act. I saw the device drop, but for a moment I completely believed it’d been planted on the road before the convoy. We’ve only just moved out here, the rebellion’s kicked off and there’s this splinter group of soldiers, we’re friends with a Hadre, you work off base… I told them it was all a coincidence and that you’d have told me if Donny wanted you to do any sort of job for him… but we’re still going to be monitored…”

Tatsumi drew his brow

“You’re not telling me how the Hadre’s here and Donny are linked”

“Well… the prisoner they were trying to break out is Donny’s great-great something grandfather. He did some really nasty human experiments where age didn’t matter… and somehow he’s made it so he hasn’t died yet of old age… he asked to be locked away in prison. Apparently if even a small sample of his DNA is released, after whatever he’s done to himself, it’d be really fucking bad. They think that someone’s trying to resurrect his work and maybe Donny provided capital to build a new lab”

Donny had his fingers in more pies than Samara, and most of business dealing were definitely illegal, however, he’d never held someone torture children even if they were related

“That’s not Donny”

“That’s what I said. That Donny wasn’t like that. I said I couldn’t pull the trigger on him. The rest of his family, yeah, but not him. I think whoever’s involved in it had no fucking clue we knew Donny and had this planned for months. They couldn’t know at all where I’d be, let alone you”

Maki knew they were innocent and Tatsumi knew they were innocent, but the omega could definitely see why their timing was suspicious as hell. They were friends with Donny. Donny’s great-great grandfather was fucked up enough to beg to be locked up forever instead of taking his own life if he’d been able to. Maki’s loyalty had been questioned and now they wanted him to use Donny and source as much as he could about potential links… as well as investigate soldiers that had defected from loyal service… probably thanks to the money

“Should I talk to Donny?”

“You can’t. We can’t contact him at all. You can’t know what I’ve told you. This is why I feel so shit. You could ask him for an explanation and solve this all in 3 minutes when it comes to his involvement but if you do call Donny then they’ll know you’ve been told everything I signed two NDAs for. You can’t call him because if even the slightest thing in his routine changes then they’re going to think we gave him the heads up… but at the same time he’s a friend and if he is edging into being caught over anything then he should be warned”

Yeah. Logically, Tatsumi knew how absolutely spot on his husband was

“Fuck”

“This is why… I felt so guilty holding it in. I was looking for a way to get away from the base and any chance of bugs. I wanted to get you alone as soon as possible to tell you… I also wanted to get you alone to be alone with you but I didn’t know if you’d believe that was part of the reason to. I don’t know what the fuck to do”

“Nothing”

The pair of them blinked at each other, both kind of shocked that Tatsumi had said “nothing”. Closing his eyes, Tatsumi believed in his heart that Donny wouldn’t be involved. Opening his eyes again, the omega gave a nod

“Do nothing. Donny is innocent and the lack of him doing things will prove that”

“What if he’s not? What if he gets done for something small?”

Donny was smart. There was no way he’d be done because if he was going to be it’d have happened long ago

“He can play the horse flute and dance around the arresting officers so fast that their heads would spin”

“I know you want to tell him”

“I do. I want to warn him to watch his back. He’s too good for this shit”

“I’m sorry… I really do want to spend this time with you… but I felt like I was deceiving you. I just wanted to make sure no one heard. I don’t want them to lock you away because I broke the NDA”

“They won’t. I’m not going to tell anyone and I won’t act. Donny did ask me to look out for anything profitable that might be of interest… but I’m pretty sure that was him being him. He wouldn’t place us in danger”

“I thought that too… Ranchel is involved in this too. I mean… he knew something was going to happen before the Justice Hall and he still let us walk into it. I know he had to…”

“It’s hard when you’re all brothers and sisters”

“Yeah. Now I’m supposed to investigate to see if there’s any collaborators here… he… uh… he looked into your family history and tried to tell me. I told him I don’t want to know because I respect Eve’s wishes”

“Li told me that much. I don’t know why she cut ties. I know I can simply look it up, but I never have. No… I did when I was younger. When I was mad at her… whatever happened was over 30 years ago now. The past should stay in the past”

Maki sighed sadly. Tatsumi reaching out to rest his hand on his husband’s head 

“Stop it. We know we’ve done nothing wrong. If I learn anything I’ll let you know, but I won’t go looking for it”

“I hate putting you in this position”

“And I hate that you’re expected to shoulder this alone. You’re my husband so lean on me. If we need to go camping again, I won’t complain”

“I want to go camping with you because I want to be spending that time with you, not because I have to have ulterior motives”

“We still ended up here together. Why don’t we enjoy ourselves now that the bad stuff is out of the way? Even if you were trying to surprise me this morning because you knew you had to tell me this, I still felt special. I know how much you love me, but sometimes I don’t know if you know how much I cherish you”

With how heavy things were, Tatsumi was happy when Maki teased him

“Is this because you got to play with a mech yesterday? Don’t think I don’t know that you got Hizuru to paint his”

Laughing, Tatsumi shook his head

“No, I’m happy because we’re all alone out here”

“And it has nothing to do with a certain mech?”

“Not at all. He asked if I wanted to boot it and I told him no. I want to help with his mech and I did get a bit too excited, but the only reason I’d get in a mech would be because of you. Our time together is too precious, every second counts to me. I wanted to get in there. I wanted to feel what needed to be adjusted and fix it all… but if that means taking away even a second more that I get to see you, I can’t do it”

“It’s been a while since you were so honest about your sight”

“It’s been a while since I wanted to be. All my peripheral vision is gone now. That’s why I was staring. I can’t watch you out the corner of my eye anymore… but it’s okay because you’re so goddamn handsome. I don’t want to ever look away from you”

Maki blushed under his praise. His alpha was so goddamn adorable 

“How long until we make it to our destination?”

“About an hour”

“Fuck… I want to pounce on you right now”

“If you’re a good boy for the next hour I’ll let you eat me alive… it’s the last day”

“Mmmm… I did the maths already…”

“So did I”

“And you’re feeling up to it? You do like to try work through”

“I didn’t used to. I used to take the two weeks, then I fell in love”

“Oh, so I’m the reason you get no rest”

“I have to keep busy to keep from missing you”

“That’s a terrible reason”

“Not really. If I didn’t have you to miss then who knows what I’d be doing? This job was never your dream and I will always support you because you are worth it to me. I was lost and devastated when I lost the baby. My thoughts were awful and I felt like nothing was worth living for except for you. I wanted you to yell and scream at me for it, but you didn’t like I knew you wouldn’t. We can try again, but I can’t live without you”

“I want to give you that happiness”

“We’ll get there. I’m not risking anything. Everything will mean nothing if I can’t have you by my side”

Sitting up, Maki kissed him softly

“Yingtao”

“Yingtao. I love you”

“I love you, too. Let’s get to this destination? You’ve got too many clothes on”

Laughing, Tatsumi pressed half a dozen kisses to Maki’s lips

“That’s more like it. I’ll race you there”

“That’s not fair, only you know which path we’re taking”

“Then I guess you’ll have to stay by my side”

***

Holding hands with his husband, Maki stared out across the valley before them. He’d felt the burn in his calves as they walked upwards, yet he’d never expected to find the remains of an old mining camp… not that there were any signs left other than the lake below them. It was like a hidden pocket of paradise that would be slapped all over some bottled water company wrapper. The lake a magnificent pale green set in the middle of broken grey cliffs. Wildlife had returned to the region, and the trees were decades old. Time had moved on and forgotten to drag the sight before him with it. Wrapping his arms around him, Tatsumi nuzzled into his neck

“It looks amazing, right?”

“How did you find it?”

“Online. The water’s safe to swim in”

“Then why aren’t there more people here?”

“Off season. In spring this place turns into a carpet of flowers. It was on my hiking list and I wanted to come here first, but I also wanted to come here with you so I bumped it down towards the bottom”

Tatsumi shouldn’t have to put his wants on hold any longer… though… Maki was glad he did. There was no tech here. No noises. No one going to suddenly pop up with work

“So we can go swimming after all that walking?”

“There’s a split in the trail that leads to the pool. I wanted to see the view”

“We didn’t need to spend the last hour hiking up?!”

“I think it’s worth it”

The view was worth it… despite Tatsumi hiding the easier way there from him 

“How do we get down?”

“Someone took the time to carve steps up and down. Cliff jumping was a popular thing for a while”

“We’re not fucking cliff jumping”

“No. We don’t know the depth… or what’s been dumped in there… It’s pretty bloody tempting”

“I thought we weren’t taking risks?”

“I’m merely saying so… though it would make for a short trip down”

“You’re not jumping off a bloody cliff in the middle of nowhere”

“Spoilt sport. When did you get so serious?”

“When I found I had so much to lose”

“That’s fair. We should probably find our way down”

“Are you up to stairs? They might be steep?”

Tatsumi didn’t miss a trick

“Are you going to tell me how to go down?”

Causing Maki to malfunction

“I… what… shut up”

“Why? I’m merely asking if you’re telling me how to go about going down? I thought I knew what I was doing but if you know a better way to go down I’m open to a demonstration”

Huffing as he tried to keep his mind off pouncing on his husband, his mouth went and fucked up

“I’ll fucking go down on you… Wait. Fuck”

“I’m down for that too… but maybe not on a cliff?”

“You’re so damn horny today”

“Horny for my husband… kind of like an affection erection of the heart”

Maki couldn’t help bursting out in laughter

“That’s so lame, babe”

“I’m old and lame. Let’s find the way down and make camp. I want to go swimming before night comes”

“At this rate I don’t know what, or who, will be coming first”

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see”

Finding the stairs down, they were worse than trying to climb up the rocks in the middle of the path. The struggle was real to keep his blood flowing to his brain and ensure that his husband made it down safely. Tatsumi got so snuggly after his estrus, and normally not that horny… Horny and snuggly made his brain backfire as he wanted to satisfy both wants of his husband and not break his damn skull open before he could. 

Going ahead, Maki let out a long sigh of relief as he lifted Tatsumi down off the last stair and onto solid ground again. Kissing his cheek, his omega teased him lightly 

“Should I ask?”

“I can breathe again”

“No one asked you to stop”

“I didn’t want to fall and crack my skull open”

“And here I thought you were fussing over me?”

“You split the blood flow by being horny”

“Ah… well, that’s your fault”

“How is it my fault?”

“By being so handsome”

Maki rolled his eyes

“Your eyesight is definitely getting worse”

“Fuck off and take a compliment”

“Nope. You’re the handsome one. You’ve even got a few inches on me and you manage to be hot as hell”

“I’d rather a few inches in me…”

With the pool of water right beside them, Maki picked Tatsumi back up, then dumped him in it. His husband floundering as he laughed 

“What the hell?”

“That’s what you get for being so cool”

“I’ll give you cool”

Realising what Tatsumi was about to do, Maki bolted. His husband surging up to chase after him until he had him half cornered. Maki holding his hands out ready to grapple should his husband make his move

“Babe… come on…”

“What? You’re the cool one”

“Think about this…”

“Too bad for you that I have”

Tatsumi feigned right and Maki fell for it. He’d barely turned to dart left before his omega had him in his arms, shaking his wet hair all over him. Maki laughing as he tried to shove him off

“Babe!”

“Nope. I’m not done with you”

Picked up over his damn shoulder, Maki tried to wriggle his way to freedom. Tatsumi smacking his arse 

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be”

“I’ve got all the supplies in here!”

“And that backpack’s waterproof when zipped”

Shit. He had him there. Carried over, he was dumped in the water by his unsympathetic husband, who dropped down back into the water next to him. Shoving him playfully, Maki wished he could stop smiling but he was too damn happy

“Are you happy now?”

“Completely. Think of how cool you are now”

“You’re a menace”

“We lost my glasses if that counts”

Maki hadn’t thought of them at all

“Fuck!”

“It’s okay. They’re here somewhere. Come on, let’s unpack then actually go swimming”

Maki fell for Tatsumi’s tricks again as his husband stood up and held his hand out. Taking it, he was pulled a little way up before Tatsumi let go again and the alpha went splashing backwards. Glaring up at his omega, Maki hoped his face told him how unimpressed he was that his damn husband was standing there laughing

“I’m sorry I’m not sorry. You should see your face”

“You’re going the right way for a smack”

“You have to catch me first”

This time he was prepared and grabbed Tatsumi by the leg before he could escape

“Now what are you doing to do?”

“Accept my fate?”

“That’s better. You’re coming with me and we’re getting out of these wet things”

If Tatsumi could throw him over his shoulder like nothing than Maki could do the same. Using his alpha strength, he lifted his husband easily into a fireman’s hold before marching out of the pool and over to the closest tree. Standing him up, he shoved Tatsumi back against the tree before kissing him hard

“Behave until we unpack”

“Or we could have some fun before we do?”

“Oh? You want to have some fun?”

“Mhmm… we’re all alone here. A little world of just me and my husband”

“Your husband must have balls of steel to put up with your antics”

“I like to think he’s my number one partner in crime”

“So if you’re caught, is he the first one going down?”

“Nope, I am”

Dropping down to his knees, Tatsumi’s hands undid Maki’s belt with ease. His wet pants posed a little more of a challenge, but Maki stood still in anticipation as his lover got them undone and down to his knees with his underwear. Looking up at him, Tatsumi then took him in his hand, giving a few light pumps to get all his blood flowing south, then closed his eyes and wrapped his lips around the tip of his erection. Fucking hell. With practised ease his omega slid his mouth down, hollowing his cheeks and sucking lightly. His husband most definitely did not need instructions on how to go down. His omega had been with alphas, betas, and omegas, of all sexes, yet somehow he managed to treat Maki’s dick like the best tasting meal of his life. And there they were. By some random lake they’d just tried to drown each in other in, under some random tree, out in public where anyone could see, and his husband was blowing, or rather sucking, his goddamn brains out as if it were the most natural thing to do. If he died right there he’d have zero regrets thanks to the zero brain power had at the hands and lips of his husband.

Feeling he was going to come, Maki tugged on his husband’s hair to tell him. Prewarned, Tatsumi didn’t pull off, Maki given permission to go ahead and come. After so long together, they had their own ways, a few simple tugs to the hair gently was his warning. Half swallowing, Tatsumi spat the rest out, semen hitting his husband’s cheek as he pulled off a fraction too soon. The primal part of his dumb alpha brain loved to see Tatsumi like this. Swollen lips, wide pupils and his seed marking his omega’s face. Reaching down, he rubbed himself into his husband’s face. Tatsumi snorting as he nuzzled into Maki’s touch

“Lunch didn’t taste so bad. Any tips?”

“You haven’t had enough?”

“Not where I want it… but we should clean up”

“You’re not dumping me back in the lake”

“Let’s get you of these wet clothes. I’ll give you a hand”

Tatsumi had sucked his mind out. Growling lightly, he didn’t want to stop now and leave his husband hanging

“You don’t want the favour returned? What if I bent you over and fucked up against this tree?”

Fluttering his eyelashes as if Maki couldn’t see what was happening in his wet pants, his husband hummed 

“I did just eat, and you are supposed to wait fifteen minutes after eating”

“Get up and put your hands against the tree”

“Is that an order?”

“A suggestion unless you want me to push you down and fuck you into the ground”

Tatsumi complied, rising to his feet his husband turned his back towards him, placed his hands on the tree with his arse stuck out. Those pants had to be awfully fucking tight

“Like this?”

“Just like that. You riled me up, now you’re going to pay for it”

“Yes, sir”

“Stay still for your alpha”

Quickly shedding his backpack, finally, Maki stripped his shirt off with it then stood behind his husband as he fisted himself back to full mast

“You don’t get my knot now. This is punishment for being a tease all day. Understood?”

“I understand, sir. I accept the punishment”

Shit. If Tatsumi did serve under his command he’d have a very real struggle against the excitement of him playing meek and calling him “sir”. His omega had told him more than once he’d drastically improved in talking dirty, and Tatsumi seemed to want to play dirty

“Good. Don’t move”

With wet pants, Tatsumi couldn’t spread his legs as much as Maki would have liked. He also knew to take it gently on his husband after the last week. Sinking into Tatsumi’s wetness, he took it slowly, nuzzling and nipping at his husband’s back through his wet shirt. When Tatsumi let out a long moan, Maki stopped

“Did I say you could speak?”

“No, sir”

“That was my mistake. I want to hear the sounds you make when you think no one is watching”

“Yes, sir”

“You’re to tell me if it’s uncomfortable or hurt. That’s an order”

“Yes, sir”

“Very good”

With more “stamina” than the first time around, Maki took it slowly. His hands sliding up and down his husband’s sides, and rather than having Tatsumi try to adjust to him, Maki made the moves to make it easier on him. Slowly fucking his husband, he hoped he was conveying enough love. He might have acted mad, yet he’d loved their dumb few minutes of running around and in the lake. Sometimes his face didn’t make the right expressions, so he wanted to show it with his actions. When his husband started to tense, Maki knew that meant he was close. Taking him in his hand, he sped up as he jerked him off, giving him what he hoped was an orgasm as good as he’d had in his omega’s mouth. At the last moment, he pulled out, rutting between Tatsumi’s thighs until he came again. Immediately came the after care. Wrapping his arms around his husband, Maki pressed kisses to his back as he caught his breath then asked

“Do you need to sit? Are you okay?”

“I’m very okay… and maybe…”

“Okay. I’ve got you”

Ignoring his own sticky situation, everything became focused on Tatsumi. Pulling out from between his legs, Maki crouched down, undoing Tatsumi’s boots from behind so he could step out of them easily then stood

“I’ve got you. Step out of your boots then I’ll help with your pants. I’ll help you sit on my shirt. We can wash it in the lake”

And that’s what he did. Undressing his husband, Maki supported him getting out of his wet things, piling them up to be washed off. Stripping off his pants and socks Maki added them to the pile. A fine layer of goosebumps covered Tatsumi’s skin, yet his husband had his eyes closed and head facing towards the sun 

“Are you warm enough?”

“The sun feels nice. I could fall asleep like this”

“What happened to wanting to swim?”

“Oh, I want to do that too. I didn’t think you’d return the favour so fast”

“Don’t give me that when you’ve been horny all morning”

“I can’t help it… couldn’t help it. You made me feel so special that it went to my head”

“You are special”

Tatsumi turned his face to look at him

“You are too… and it’s hot when you tell me what you want”

“I want you”

“I know that, I’m not dumb. I mean… I like when take control because I know the second I say no then you’ll respect that. I control of how far I want to go, and it’s not for the sake of being in a submissive omega role”

“You’re hardly fucking submissive. I don’t think we would have lasted if you were”

“That’s my point. You don’t expect me to be, so when I choose to be it’s entirely because I want to go along with it. I love you so much, Maki. So much. I don’t need millions in my bank account or all the nicest things in the Empire. I only need my husband who understands me so damn well”

Maki frowned. Internally he felt warm and very loved, yet he also felt incredibly scared

“You sound like you’re about to die and don’t know how to tell me”

“As if I could leave you alone. I was thinking how loving you are and how happy I am with you. Now, if I was dying, I’d tell you I updated my will ages ago and left you some stuff. Eve gets the house but if we’re both gone it falls to your family. Anyway, I’m not about to die because who knows which bitch would try getting their hands on my husband just because I’m out of the picture”

“I’m still not feeling too happy about hearing this”

Tatsumi held his hand out, Maki taking it

“I swear I’m not going to jeopardise our future and if it’s that scary then blame it on the hormones. They need some reason to exist”

“I’m not about to blame them or you. I’m have a blast being with you”

“Good, I am too. I missed our trips away so this is everything I wanted”

“Mhmm… I want to be home more and do more of this”

“Adventuring or sex in public parks?”

“Both, it depends. I refuse to have an audience”

“I don’t want one”

“Thank the stars for that… and thank you for being understanding about… what I had to tell you”

Tatsumi squeezed his hand

“You’re my husband. We make plans together and if I can’t fulfil my role then I leave it all you because I know you’ve got my back. Now, I thought about it too. How do you feel about talking about taxes?”

Maki blanked. What did he know about taxes?

“Huh?”

“I was thinking of a name and a way you can tell me when you need to talk or to drop it. And a way I can tell you if something happens and someone approaches me. I can say I had a visit from a stranger about my taxes. Or you could say  something like “I can’t come home today, I have to work on my taxes”. You know, something everyone deals with so it’s not weird to talk about”

“I’m probably going to forget this”

“Then you’ll think of another way. It was just an idea. Like right now taxes aren’t our worry, and I’m not in a hurry to worry about my taxes”

That… Maki felt proud of his husband all over again. He might not remember “taxes” but when Tatsumi said things so casually there was no way that anyone else would pick up on it

“That’s really smart”

“You didn’t marry me for my good looks”

“I don’t know, you’re kind of hot as fuck”

His husband pouted

“Only kind of?”

Maki laughed 

“Oh, no. You’re crazy smart… I’ll try my best to remember about us and the taxes”

“Good. I want to be there for you. I’m not proposing going crazy with the code names, but if there’s something you need to talk about and feel like you can’t comfortably then we’ll find a way together”

“I want that. Should I get the blanket out? Sitting on my shirt can’t be fun”

“Nah, I think I’ll go so soak for a bit. I’m getting crusty”

Maki looked down at himself… now it’d been mentioned he too was “crusty”

“That’s a good plan. Shit, I didn’t pack towels”

“It’s a good thing there’s this thing called the sun”

Blinking half a dozen times, Maki admitted mental defeat. His husband was incredible.