ECHOES OF THE SHORE

The wedding reception lingered into the soft purple dusk, lanterns swaying like fireflies caught in the breeze. Laughter drifted from the terrace above Marcus and Claire still dancing, barefoot and flushed, surrounded by the small circle of people who mattered. Aiden stood at the cliff’s edge, toes curling over warm stone, the sea far below breathing in slow, rhythmic sighs. The air tasted of salt and grilled lemon, the faint smoke of cedar from the dying fire pit mingling with jasmine still clinging to Claire’s bouquet.

Silas found him there, stepping up silently until his chest brushed Aiden’s back. He didn’t speak at first just wrapped both arms around Aiden’s waist, chin resting on his shoulder, letting the moment settle between them like the tide settling into sand.

“You’re quiet,” Silas murmured eventually, lips grazing the shell of Aiden’s ear.

Aiden leaned into him, head tilting back against Silas’s collarbone. “I was thinking about tomorrow.”

Silas’s hands flattened against Aiden’s stomach warm, possessive, but gentle. “And what does tomorrow look like in that head of yours?”

Aiden exhaled, watching the last sliver of sun disappear into the water, turning the horizon into a thin line of molten rose.

“I want to start the program next spring,” he said. “The foster teaching initiative. Small groups ten kids at a time. No corporate branding, no press. Just a converted warehouse in Brooklyn with good light, whiteboards, secondhand laptops, and people who show up because they want to, not because they have to.”

Silas’s thumbs traced slow circles over Aiden’s ribs. “You’ve been planning this for years.”

“Since the first time I saw those kids in the foster center photos Silas showed me,” Aiden admitted. “The ones you fund scholarships for but never talk about. I kept thinking… what if someone had given you code instead of a belt? What if someone had given me purpose instead of pressure? I want to be that someone for them.”

Silas pressed a kiss to the side of Aiden’s neck—L soft, lingering. “You already are that someone. For me.”

Aiden turned in his arms then, hands sliding up Silas’s chest to frame his face. “I want you there too. Not in the spotlight. Just… teaching. Showing them how to build something unbreakable. How to turn pain into power without losing the soft parts.”

Silas’s stormy eyes searched Aiden’s raw, unguarded. “I’m not good with kids.”

“You’re good with lost things,” Aiden said quietly. “You were one. So was I. We know what it feels like to be thrown away. We know how to survive. That’s enough to start.”

Silas swallowed. “I’d be… afraid of breaking them.”

“Then we’ll be afraid together,” Aiden answered. “And we’ll be careful. And we’ll learn. Like we learned everything else.”

Silas pulled him closer, forehead resting against Aiden’s. “Okay,” he whispered. “I’m in.”

They stood like that bodies aligned, breathing synced until the first stars pricked the velvet sky overhead. Below, the sea whispered secrets against the rocks, steady and eternal.

Later, after the last guests had drifted away and Marcus and Claire had disappeared into their honeymoon suite with shy, happy smiles, Aiden and Silas walked down to the private cove. The beach was empty now, silvered by moonlight. Waves rolled in with a low, liquid hush, each one leaving a lace of foam that glowed faintly before retreating.

Silas stopped at the waterline, rolling up his pants. Aiden followed, shedding his shirt entirely bare chest catching the cool night air, nipples tightening. Silas’s gaze darkened instantly, raking over him with the same hunger that had once terrified and thrilled Aiden in equal measure.

“Still want to ruin me?” Aiden asked, voice low, teasing.

Silas stepped into the shallow water, pulling Aiden with him. “Always.”

The first wave broke around their calves cool, shocking, delicious. Silas hauled Aiden against him, mouths crashing together in a kiss that tasted of salt, wine, and years of want. Hands roamed Silas’s sliding down Aiden’s back to grip his ass, lifting him just enough that Aiden’s legs wrapped around Silas’s waist. Aiden ground down instinctively, feeling Silas already hard against him through thin linen.

Silas walked them deeper water rising to thighs, then hips. When the next wave hit, it soaked them both, cool water sluicing over heated skin. Aiden gasped into Silas’s mouth; Silas groaned, turning so Aiden’s back pressed against a smooth boulder still warm from the day’s sun.

“Hold on,” Silas ordered.

Aiden braced his hands on the rock. Silas yanked Aiden’s pants down, freeing his cock already leaking, flushed dark in the moonlight. Silas dropped to his knees in the surf, water swirling around his thighs, and took Aiden deep throat working, tongue pressing flat, sucking with slow, deliberate pulls that made Aiden’s knees buckle.

The waves kept coming each one higher, colder, breaking against their bodies, splashing up Aiden’s chest, dripping from Silas’s silver-streaked hair. Aiden threaded his fingers through that wet hair, guiding without force, hips rocking gently into the wet heat of Silas’s mouth.

Silas pulled off with a wet gasp, stood, and spun Aiden to face the rock. “Hands on the stone.”

Aiden obeyed. Silas slicked himself with spit and seawater crude, urgent then pressed in slow, letting Aiden feel every thick inch stretching him open. Aiden moaned low, broken head falling forward as Silas bottomed out.

The rhythm started slow deep, rolling thrusts that matched the cadence of the waves. Each time Silas withdrew, the surf rushed in; each time he slammed home, the water retreated with a hiss. Aiden pushed back, meeting every stroke, prostate lit up like lightning. Silas’s hand wrapped around Aiden’s cock stroking in time, thumb smearing pre-cum over the head.

“Feel that?” Silas growled against Aiden’s ear. “Every wave. Every thrust. You’re mine. Always were. Always will be.”

Aiden arched, nails scraping stone. “Yours fuck Silas—”

Silas angled deeper, nailing that spot relentlessly. His other hand slid up Aiden’s chest, pinching a nipple hard enough to sting. Aiden cried out sound swallowed by the wind and sea. Pleasure coiled viciously sharper, brighter, edged with salt and moonlight.

They came together Silas flooding him deep with a guttural moan, Aiden spilling hot over Silas’s fist, body clenching so tight Silas hissed in pleasure pain. Waves kept rolling in, washing over their joined bodies, cool and cleansing and endless.

Silas stayed buried inside him, arms wrapping around Aiden’s chest, holding him through the aftershocks. They stood like that panting, trembling until the water felt too cold and they waded back to shore.

On the sand, Silas pulled Aiden down with him both of them wet, sandy, laughing softly. They lay tangled, moonlight painting their skin silver, waves still whispering nearby.

Aiden traced the scar on Silas’s lip with his thumb. “I want this forever,” he said quietly. “Not just the intensity. The quiet too. The mornings. The teaching. The family dinners with Marcus and Claire. The dogs getting old. Us getting old. All of it.”

Silas kissed his palm. “Then we take it. All of it.”

Above them, the stars burned steady and endless.

Below, the sea kept its rhythm patient, powerful, eternal.

And between them, no chains remained.

Only choice.

Only love.

Only tomorrow.