Gunther slowly rose to wakefulness as the early fingers of the dawn began to light the shaded windows behind the bed. He wanted to stretch, catlike; so satisfied with the deep, well-fucked ache of his body was he, but Valois was nestled up against him and he was loath to wake his lover from such a sound sleep. At least, not yet. He wanted to lie awake and savour this feeling for a little longer before he begged for more.

Valois had never once used lubrication in all the time Gunther had known him, admitting to Gunther eventually that all he relied upon was just enough magic to ease his way without making things too easy. He wanted Gunther to really feel it, but not to be in pain. Well, not too much pain, anyway. Gunther was learning to relish enduring a little more than he could comfortably take, but what he loved most was carrying that ache around all day. It was like having Valois with him at all times, and that felt so good that he never wanted it to stop.

Valois had joked about it, calling him demanding and insatiable, but Gunther had noticed his delight as he'd said it; the deep happiness that made his strange eyes gleam, and that look had made Gunther want to squirm and beg to be fucked again and again.

Valois shifted beside him, a smile curving his lips. "Hm," he murmured. "Now that was a lovely thought to wake up to, mon cœur. How do you feel this morning?"

"Good." Gunther pressed closer, showing Valois just how good he felt. "I ache, and it's soooo fucking good."

Valois's fingers carded into Gunther's hair. "Tell me about it." They fisted slowly, making Gunther whine and follow them, his head tilting back until his throat was exposed.

Gunther swallowed, feeling his Adam's apple bobbing against the thin, taut skin of his throat. "My thighs are stiff," he began, in a whisper.

"They're not the only things that are stiff." Valois chuckled. "Tell me why they are. Details, boy."

"They're... they're stiff because I had them spread so wide apart for you, for so long last night."

"Mmm, you did indeed. Tell me what else aches."

The hand in his hair tugged hard, briefly, making Gunther choke down a whine, and then it relaxed, the fingertips rubbing and soothing his scalp, as Valois shifted over him, his weight pressing Gunther down and making him feel so safe.

"My arse is sore." Arching his neck, Gunther nuzzled at Valois's throat. Then, remembering that his lover wanted details, he added: "Because you fucked me so hard and so much last night."

"Good boy." Valois pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Your face is hot now, and I like that."

"I sort of like it, too," Gunther admitted. "I didn't at first, because it was about me being embarrassed. But now... it's about you being pleased. And I like making you look..." he smiled shyly, "...the way you're looking at me right now."

"You're beginning to understand, mon cœur. That is why I'm looking at you this way." Valois kissed him. "You want to please me because of love, not because of fear. And, because of that love, you receive pleasure in return. You see now, that it is an infinity loop?"

Gunther nodded, raising one hand to cradle Valois's cheek. "Those silly books that Natalie reads have got it so wrong."

Valois grinned. "You actually read those?"

And now Gunther really did blush. "Uh, well maybe a couple of chapters. I found one of them in her desk one night before I met you, when things were really bad at home and I stayed overnight at the office. I was bored, so I read... a bit."

"Oh, now I must know more." Valois's eyes glinted. "Did you learn anything from it?"

"Uh..."

"From the beautiful shade of your cheekbones at this moment, I think you read more than 'a bit'," Valois murmured, pushing himself up until he straddled Gunther's thighs. He briefly traced the tip of one finger over Gunther's lips, and Gunther clasped his wrist as he pulled it away, guiding that hand back to his mouth.

"Now there is a hint, if ever I saw one." Valois watched Gunther suck one of his fingers into his mouth, curling his tongue around it, his eyes hooding as he moaned softly around it.

"Well, you have shown me admirably." Valois's tone was a notch lower, to Gunther's immense satisfaction. "Now tell me. Or, rather, ask me."

Releasing that finger - and feeling it trail cool wetness down his shoulder as Valois teased him with it - Gunther looked up. "Please," he whispered. "I want to suck you off."

Valois didn't move. "Euphemism," was all he said.

Damn. Get it right this time! Gunther chided himself. "Please," he tried again. "I want to suck your cock."

That was met with a nod of approval, and Valois shifted up onto his knees. "I want you to wait for five minutes, though," he said. "Sink into that need. Feel your mouth watering for it."

Gunther swallowed down a whine and just nodded. "Can... can I touch you? I mean, elsewhere?"

"You can."

Gunther placed a careful hand on the small of Valois's back, the smooth warmth of the skin there grounding him as his world threatened to start sliding out from beneath him, as it always did when Valois was this way with him.

"Just watch and want," he heard Valois murmur. "Be perfectly still, like a meditation. Focus on what it will be like when you get it, the taste and weight of it on your tongue, the chill as the saliva that spills from your mouth cools on your skin as it trickles down your throat and chest."

Oh god. Fuckfuckfuck... I'm gonna come if he keeps talking like that!

Valois chuckled. "Then I shall be silent. Your five minutes begins now."

Gunther never knew how five minutes could feel like five years. He'd experienced those crazy time slow-downs before - the ones that everyone gets when it's half an hour to hometime on a Friday afternoon - but nothing like this. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear that Valois was holding time back.

But it was working. He could not stop swallowing as he stared at Valois's cock. The taste and the weight, Valois had said, but also the scent of his skin. Oh, he was sinking into the need all right, but that need was almost broken when he felt a gentle hand cradling his jaw and a voice whispered, "Relax." Then, a thumb carefully pushed between his lips, and he knew what Valois wanted. The very same thing as his first ever lesson.

"Good boy." The praise sank into him and he exhaled shakily; a soft whine of a sound as he let his lips and jaw relax. The impulse to swallow came and stayed, but he fought it, letting his saliva slowly pool until he could hold it back no longer and it trickled out from the corner of his mouth.

"Beautiful. Now, you may move closer and open your mouth wider. Beg without words, and you shall have what you want."

The world around him - house, job, son - completely forgotten, Gunther did as he was told, begging wordlessly, but not soundlessly. As he shifted closer, a raw, low groan of need left his throat. And that, apparently, was what Valois had been waiting for. The sound was effectively silenced by what Gunther had spent at least fifteen minutes simply wanting, and he almost collapsed with the relief of it.

"A lesson well-learned." The praise in Valois's voice as he stroked Gunther's hair only served to increase his desire to learn more, to be better. But, just as he made this silent vow, Valois pulled out, making him whine and open his eyes to look up, pleading.

"I know, my beautiful boy. But I think you want more than that. You need that ache renewed."

"Oh god, yes. Please."

"On your side, facing the door."

Gunther scrambled into position, as Valois moved up behind him. A firm hand lifted his leg high and he whimpered, "Please!Please!" as he felt Valois's cock nestle against him.

The breaching of his body was as deliberately-slow as it always was; Valois allowing him plenty of time to feel every sensation. Gunther's lips parted, his breathing ragged as the soreness and stiffness was re-awakened. It hurt, but just enough. Valois knew what he was doing, and Gunther trusted him implicitly.

And then, when Valois was buried balls-deep, he raised Gunther's leg a little higher and fisted his other hand in Gunther's hair. "Open your eyes," he whispered.

Gunther did, and - to his horror - the bedroom door was open. The hallway outside was dark, but he could just make out the shapes of the picture frames on the wall.

"He is fast asleep in his bedroom," Valois murmured, "but you must be absolutely silent, so he does not awaken and come to investigate. No words, no whimpers. Only breath."

"But--!"

"I will allow you that one word. Now hush." Valois began to pull out, but Gunther tightened the muscles in the arm he had hooked around his lover's shoulder, trying to pull him back. He shook his head, pleading with his eyes: I'll be good. I'll be quiet! Just... don't let him wake up or see.

"Your silence will ensure it." Valois pushed back in, hard enough to force the breath from Gunther's body in a winded gasp. In one smooth movement, he pulled back again, and Gunther braced himself...

"Tomorrow," Valois promised, close to Gunther's ear, "I will blindfold you."

And then there was only breath.