“Braze,” Damon murmurs, crowding much too close for someone who doesn’t want this, and he’s not making it very easy for Braze not to turn and wind his arms around him like the bond so cries for him to do. “I’m-” “I think that it’d be best if we pretended this didn’t happen. He answered politely, stepping away from that warm hand and keeping his eyes down. We’ve never been a part of the same crowd, and I see no reason to start now. You don’t want the bond, and neither do I, so just... forget it.” And Braze walked away, strides quick and body tense as he left behind what had supposed to be his dream, his hope, his turning point, his love. What a sick joke. It does not go away, and it is not easy to forget. He dreams, and he finds himself with them, safe and warm and longing, and he forces himself awake. The bond makes everything different; it brings the danger of actually connecting their minds in sleep. Braze can’t let that happen. He needs to pretend, forget, and cover this ache t

Braze has been touched before. Has had boyfriends who ran their hands over his skin and left behind a trail of hickeys. He’s been taken over by pleasure and felt speared to his very core, but nothing and no one has been like this. With every touch, his body shivers, the warmth seeping down through his skin and straight to his bones. There is a fire awakening in him, kindled by every careful and oh so deliberate touch, into something bright, brilliant, and more. Sex has always been the same, just with different partners. There is no real ‘newness’ about it; just the same actions, the same motions, and the same ending. But this is beyond new. He feels stripped, as if his very skin has been peeled away to leave nothing but nerve endings against bare flesh. There is no escaping his bond, not inside or out, and he can’t remember why he’d ever been hesitant, perhaps because he hadn't wanted this. Brandon is murmuring things—a string of words in a language that is not his own but sends shiv

Win and Brandon loved riling their lovers up. Braze was properly in the mood, and he was wild in the sack. They'd give each other a look and then surround him with a dual attack of mouths on his neck and lips until Braze was pliant between them. Celebrating their success, they'd then stand on their tiptoes to kiss over his shoulder. For some reason, whenever they tried to kiss around Braze, he seemed to shift and get in their way, meaning they had no choice but to lean over him. They had first assumed Braze just liked being sandwiched between them. But then Braze seemed to not mind Win or Damon being in the middle as he stayed plastered against their back, and he'd initiate a kiss in the exact same way, often steadying the hips of the person in the middle and making sure they stayed put as he leaned over their shoulder to kiss the other. In fact, Braze often placed himself in a position that made his height over the other person clear. He seemed to revel in plastering himself against