Work Text:
🎲
Stede stares at the little velvet bag, the purple fabric still conspicuous despite the piled trays of sumptuous treats and countless candles spread across the table. It’s The Night, the Very Special Night, and the air between them prickles, so dense and charged with nervous excitement.
It’s not for lack of trying, them all hands and mouths and senseless rutting at every given opportunity. And Stede wants that, every second he’s conscious he wants Ed’s fist around him, or his thigh slotted between his legs, wants the man pressed keening against the cabin walls. He wants more, too, wants the slow burn of a lit taper, not just the detonation. Wants canoodling and unhurried caress, wants to see and watch and feel all of Edward as they finally fall together, wants to show him gentler pleasures, wants to learn them with him.
Despite their best efforts- really determined efforts- they haven’t been sure where to begin. What starts as careful kisses ends suddenly with hands in breeches; the steps between are a mystery to both of them. There’s no etiquette guide to lovemaking- and certainly none for buggery- and while Edward is experienced with the destination per se, the pair of them have decided they would much rather like to take the scenic route getting there.
Hence tonight: the gaudy little cakes and tarts, topped with shining berries and caramelised sugar, dripping with coulis and custard and creams; a candlelit feast complete with champagne; knees knocking beneath the table and compote sucked from fingers; both men tizzy from the bubbles and the sugar and the exquisite suspense.
They gorge themselves on chocolates shaped like narwhals, licorice ropes longer than their cutlasses, sprigs of crystallised lavender, and dark chocolate truffles stuffed with cherries and coconut. Stede encourages Ed to take as many of the treats as he wants.
Finally, Ed falls back in his chair, a hand patting his belly. “Love, if you stuff me full of any more sugar, I might have to start taking my tea with ten sugars every morning.”
Stede laughs. “Never thought I’d see the day when you turned down a treat.”
“Never thought I’d see this many sweets in front of me in my whole life,” Ed says, gesturing to the table between them, still half-full of bonbons wrapped in patterned foil, gummy sweets the colour of champagne, and chocolate-covered pineapple lumps. “Not to mention….this.” Ed picks up the velvet bag and grins wickedly.
Despite all the cakes and confections, the free-flowing champers, the sight of Ed with his hair flowing over his cotton-clad shoulders- the little bag is the thing that thrills Stede the most.
The pleasure it promises sets his heart hammering, sends shivers and goosebumps rippling across his skin.
Truely, nothing on earth could be sweeter than this delicious anticipation.
🎲
The planning had begun two days prior.
Ed was lathing a wet kiss on Stede’s neck, and Stede was having a crisis.
They were still clothed, for god’s sake, and he was already feeling that heat in the pit of his stomach. They’d been making out with a side of heavy petting for several minutes now, and both of them had been… aroused for most of it, certainly. But he’d really thought they might get farther than this tonight. They’d talked about it. They both want it. They'd decided it was past time to go all the way.
His prick throbbed with it, the very thought of Ed inside him, or him taking Ed. And that's just it- the lack of direction. It's the details that confound them. All the way has no map and they find themselves time and again taking the shortcut toward their destination.
Satisfying sex had not exactly been a part of Stede’s married life, and Ed has told him just how little tenderness he received during his “dalliances.” So, despite their age, it hadn’t exactly been a surprise that they’d barely managed to keep it together for long enough to take a proper look at the other.
Stede tightened his grasp at Ed’s waist and pulled the man’s hips up slightly, away from where they’d been rocking at his. Ed made a little noise into his neck, pulling back.
“I’m ready- you’ve got to- you have to do it now, if we’re going to-” Stede said desperately.
“I don’t just wanna shove your pants down and go at you, man!” Ed exclaimed, pulling back to look at Stede, but his hips dropped back down onto Stede’s groin and they couldn’t help but buck against each other. That one extra grind was all it took for them to both spend, moaning into each other’s mouths, writhing their clothed cocks together through the aftershocks.
When his orgasm finally receded Stede slumped back against the pillows, hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. “I just don’t know where to go from here,” he whined. “Every time we try, it just… sneaks up on me, and I can’t stop it.”
Ed knocked his head against Stede’s shoulder. “‘m not complaining,” he said, still orgasm-drunk.
“I know,” Stede whined, “but we were supposed to… make love tonight!”
Ed rolled over, draping half his body over Stede’s. “Exactly, love. That’s why I don’t just wanna stick my dick in when you’re about to come. That’s just, that’s just a quick fuck. And I’ve had enough of that.”
Stede carded his hands through Ed’s curls. “But you do want to…?”
“Make love to you? Fuck yeah, mate,” Ed said, wriggling so he was further on top of him, and lathed several wet kisses on his decolletage. “Maybe what we need is some foreplay. Slow us down a bit.”
“Foreplay? Isn’t that what we were doing?”
Ed giggled. “You mean grinding our dicks against each other while we make out? Not really foreplay, mate. That’s more… play play.”
“What do you suggest, then?” Stede asked, already feeling himself getting heavy-lidded and gooey-limbed.
“Y’know, the basics. Dirty talk. A striptease. Bit of light stabbing, maybe.”
“I am not stabbing you again, Edward!” he admonished him.
Ed laughed, his shoulders shaking with it. “Worth a shot.”
“I don’t even know where to start, I’m afraid,” Stede said. “I’ve read, uh, some- a little- well... It sounds like there’s a lot of options!”
“There’s too many options, is the problem,” Ed huffed.
Stede took a moment to think, and that’s when it hit him. A memory, a time he’d pictured an alluring possibility, albeit one he’d never thought could ever come to fruition. “I… may have an idea,” he proposed tentatively.
“Oh?” Ed asked, and when Stede twisted his face up a bit in an attempt to get the right words, “c’mon, spit it out then, love.”
“I… saw something in a shop once. A… shop a gentleman should perhaps not have been in, but a gentleman pirate could certainly have his run of the place, I think,” Stede suggested demurely, resting his chin on his folded hands.
“Oooh?” Ed hummed, raising up on his elbows to watch him with curious eyes.
Stede felt himself flush under the other man’s attention, but the way Ed’s tongue darted out to moisten his upper lip reassured him that he wasn’t alone in his enthusiastic jitters. “There was a set of, shall we call them… intimate scenario randomisers,” he whispered.
“Bloody sex dice??” Ed whooped, sliding his body up to fit their lips together. “You’re a maniac.”
Stede laughed, a bit nervously. “Oh, is that what they’re called. Well. I hope you think I’m the good sort of maniac?”
“Uh, yeah. Never had anyone loony enough to try that fun shit with me.” Ed kissed him again. “Alright, you gotta tell me- where’d you see them? What port?”
By morning, they were en route to Pointe-à-Pitre.
🎲
Stede remains adamant that Ed cannot roll the dice until they’re both ready. Over the long weeks they’d spent apart, he had imagined many, many times how their first night together would go.
Of course, none of his plans had been realised that first time, especially not when Ed had pushed him up against the door of their cabin after a prolonged separation between their lips. Ed had waited, then, for Stede to kiss him, only he had looked so pathetically desperate that Stede couldn’t hold even a bit of resentment against him, could only kiss him silly.
Tonight, he wants things to go differently. Deliberately.
When Ed rises from his chair and leans down to kiss him with a fervent passion, he’s nearly blown away. He manages to compose himself just enough to put firm hands against Edward’s chest, to push him back just far enough that their noses barely brush.
“We want the anticipation,” Stede reminds him, in a low voice that doesn’t sound entirely like himself. “I think we ought to… separate for a moment. Get ready. Then we’ll be able to take things slow.” Truthfully, he needs a moment to compose himself, if he wants to end this night the way they’ve planned.
“Change into something you feel comfortable in,” Ed whispers in his ear, before spinning on his heel and strutting off to the ensuite. Stede stands, stricken, until Ed’s swaying hips disappear and he can fully turn to the auxiliary wardrobe. He’s clearly underestimated how much just the thought of Ed’s words in his head would affect him- his cock is already half-hard, tempting him to put his hands on it as he pulls his drawers and breeches down.
As he strips, he considers what he should put on, what he will feel most comfortable in. A full suit- justacorps and all- would be his answer, if it was anyone else. But with Ed, he’s felt comfortable stripping down since the day he met him. Would it be uncouth to walk out of the closet starkers? He considers this for a moment, then remembers they’re trying to take it slow.
He won’t put on a full suit, no, but he does don a satiny royal purple robe. He lets the silk swish around his bare legs for a moment while trying to ignore the way the fabric feels brushing over his hard-on. He hears a slight clinking from outside the closet, which certainly means that Ed has returned and is plucking a treat from their abandoned banquet of sweets. Stede secures his robe tightly around his middle, the vibrant shade reminding him of Ed’s suit at that party, way back when.
He opens the door of the auxiliary wardrobe, eyes still shut tightly. “May I look?” he asks tentatively, hands bracing himself on the doorframe.
“Look as much as you’d like, sweetheart,” Ed croons. Stede opens his eyes to see Ed in a stunning velvety periwinkle robe.
“Oh,” sighs Stede. “I do like.” His eyes flicker down to his own robe, so complimentary to Ed’s. “We coordinate.”
Ed takes several lanky steps across the cabin, reaching Stede in moments. He lays a warm hand against his jaw and cheek, caressing it with such gentle fingertips that Stede almost doesn’t believe the touch is real. He reaches up to clasp Ed’s hand against his face, stilling its movement, but forcing the broad palm to press firmly against his face. “So do I,” Ed says throatily.
“Bed?” Stede suggests, snatching the plum bag out of Ed’s other hand.
Ed moves his hands to Stede’s hips, steering him towards their nook. The press of his palms against the silk is already sultry, the static building between them with each step. He relishes every second of it, the tantalising anticipation that sizzles, sparking as Ed gently pushes him down onto the bed. “Here, love,” he murmurs, sinking beside Stede. “Let me have the first roll?”
Stede tips the pair of dice into his waiting hand, watches them shine in the candlelight. They’re strangely facetted, eight faces instead of six, but the engraving is stunning in its craftsmanship and utterly fascinating in its creativity.
Ed snorts as he rolls the dice around in his palm, scanning over the suggestions.
“Well?” Stede rests a hand on his knee, patting gently. “Not scared, are you?” he teases.
“Fuck off,” Ed scoffs. “Just warming them up, y’know, to make sure it’s a good one.”
“It’ll be a good one, whatever you roll,” Stede tells him, his champagne flush deepening.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Ed says, smirking.
Stede retorts with a wave of his brows. “I hope you will.”
One more roll of his palms, the soft click-clack of the dice hastening Stede’s every breath. Then they fall unceremoniously to the quilt-top, the carved ebony and ivory glinting in the soft light. The pair lean forward, nearly knocking heads as they peer at the tiny words engraved.
Blow On
Arse
Stede wheezes.
Ed guffaws.
“I don’t think- perhaps we should-”
“Nuh-uh-uh,” Ed waggles a finger, grinning widely. “You promised me a good one, mate. Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it.”
“Edward, I fail to see how… the… uh…” Stede pauses his complaining as Ed’s fingers move to the ties of his robe, releasing the knot with ease. He drags his palm over Stede’s thigh, shifting downward as he sweeps the silky fabric aside. Ed leans on an elbow, lips finding his hip and pressing butterfly kisses.
“Mm?” The sound rumbles from his mouth and goes straight to Stede’s cock.
“This can’t be the conventional way, to initiate-” Stede giggles as Ed’s fingers slide around his waist, coaxing him to lean against the pillows. “Surely, foreplay doesn’t start with-” Another gasp as Ed firms his hand against Stede’s thigh, nudging him to turn to the side.
“I’m not going for your arsehole, man,” Ed explains, planting kisses over the curve of his backside.
Stede swallows, thrilling at the insinuation, wondering if that’s even a thing.
Ed begins to alternate the pecks with licks, one hand at the small of Stede’s back and the other kneading his behind. Then he adds in a puff of air, a lingering exhale that tickles the damp patches, sending a shiver down Stede’s spine. Ed pushes down again, pressing a loud smooch to his backside, then finally blowing a raspberry.
Stede titters as he pulls away.
“My go?” he asks, voice wavering with amusement and trepidation.
Ed sprawls catlike over his thighs, looking up at Stede with a kind of mischief in his eyes. “Be my guest. But if you want this to keep going much longer, you’d better cover that up, mate,” he says, flicking his eyes and jutting his chin towards Stede’s uncovered cock.
Stede flushes and ties the robe back up, though how much it does to hide his burgeoning erection, he’s not sure. He scoops up the pair of dice, cupping them gently, and gives a quick shake before tossing them onto the bedding.
Their nearly bump heads in their eagerness to read the dice.
Fuck
Ears
Oh no. This is the worst idea he’s ever had. He’s a complete idiot and now he’s ruined The Big Night and Edward will realise what an utter, incompetent fool he is, and-
Stede grabs the dice back up, as if to destroy the evidence. “T-this was a terrible idea, Ed, I’m so sorry, I-I’ll-”
Ed places his hand over Stede’s and gives a slow squeeze. “This is a fantastic idea, love.”
“A-are you-” Stede huffs, turning belligerent with the embarrassment, “-are you saying you want me to, to fuck your ears, Edward!?”
He’s still wearing that cheeky little grin. “Yeah.”
Stede splutters.
“C’mere,” Ed says, crawling up the bed and tugging Stede down beside him.
“This isn’t funny!” Stede grumbles.
Ed’s face scrunches cheerfully. “Kinda is though?”
Stede pouts and sniffs and Edward nestles beside him. “I just want this to be… nice, Ed. Special.”
“Mn? It’s not?” Ed noses in against his jaw.
“You just bloody-well asked me to rub my dick on your ear!?”
Ed cackles, wrapping Stede in a bear hug. “I didn’t say that.”
“You did!” Stede sulks.
“There’s more than one way to skin a cat,” Ed says, pressing kisses to his chin and cheek.
Stede grimaces. “Eugh.”
“Okay, fine,” Ed chuckles, “there’s more than one way to fuck an ear.”
“Oh?” Stede turns to look at him properly now.
“Mmhm. Reckon you’ve got quite the gift of the gab, mate.”
“Oh.” Stede swallows. “I mean. I am a decent storyteller, I suppose.”
“You certainly are, love.” Ed stretches into the decadent pile of pillows, making himself comfortable on his back. “So, go on then, tell me a story.”
Stede looks the man over- the slivers of enchanting skin that peek from the silk robe. The dark ink and pink scars that hint at so many other lives lived, that beckon his fingertips to trace their edges. The wiry hair that points a perfect path from Ed’s neck to his navel, and meanders down to that wonderful thatch below.
Stede swallows and settles onto his side, dragging the tip of his nose into the bristles of Ed's jaw. “It was a dark and stormy night–” he starts.
“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Ed giggles, ribbing Stede gently.
“–and I was laying beside you, the waves jostling us together, a little closer with every swell.” With this Stede rocks his hips to punctuate the sentence. “I found my hands on you, clinging, unable to keep from touching you all over," he murmurs, words interspersed with slow kisses. "And now that I had you in my grasp, I began to wonder just how I could use my mouth, my tongue, to take you apart."
Ed's breath shudders.
"How I could find the places that tickle, that stand and tense at my touch. Find out how much of you I can fit inside my mouth… my body. See if all of you is as soft and warm as your lips; feel you with my tongue and fingers and co–"
"Jesus, fuck– Stede." Ed crashes into him, throwing a leg over Stede's hip and grinding his hardening prick against his stomach. "How did you–" he sucks into Stede's mouth, then pulls back with a pop. "Where the fuck did you learn to talk like that!?"
"You like it?" Stede asks, slightly smug, and only fishing a little.
"You're so goddamn romantic, even when you're so fuckin' horny, man.” He ruts into Stede's belly again, his erection plain despite the swathes of silk between them. "You haven't even touched me, love."
"Not yet," Stede adds, rocking slowly against him. "Did you want to roll again?"
Ed flops over with a huff, throwing a hand out to paw at the bedsheets where Stede had cast aside the dice. “S’pose I should, before I start making up my own rolls,” he snorts.
Stede’s actually rather intrigued by the sound of that, but Ed grabs the dice and begins shaking them on either side of his head with a big goofy grin, hands tossing the dice like they’re a cocktail shaker. Finally he releases them slowly, like he’s pouring an aperitif.
Ed smiles down at the words before he even lets Stede see.
Stroke
Thighs
“Oh. Well that’s alright, I suppose-” Stede says. Ed’s touched his thighs before. Ed’s complimented his thighs before. Ed’s told him his thighs are sexy as hell. Ed’s told him, on one memorable occasion, that he’d like to have Stede’s thighs thrown up over his shoulders while he-
Nope nope nope. Can’t think like that now, or he really will shoot off before they get any further. Just like last time.
Then Ed’s positioning himself between Stede’s legs, carefully spreading them, Stede’s robe falling off his legs again. Ed skates his hands softly up the inside of his thighs, thumbs massaging the muscles of his knees and palms pressing warmth into his bare legs. He rubs up and down, just reaching the midpoint of Stede’s thighs, before his hands begin wandering higher up, creeping inch by inch, tantalizing Stede with quick touches so close to his bare prick. Stede moans.
“You like that, do you?”
“Oh god,” Stede whines, and suddenly has to clutch at the base of his cock, afraid he might come right then and there. “Just… just give me a moment, Ed, dear god…”
Ed smirks at him, but Stede can see his own erection threatening to peek out from just below the tie of his lilac robe. His hands return to Stede’s mid-thighs, rubbing circles into the muscles tense with the effort of staving off his orgasm.
“All hot and bothered from just a bit of stroking, eh love?” he teases, cockier than the cat that got the cream, but when Stede grabs for his jaw to pull him down into a kiss, Ed moans louder and more fervently than either of them have thus far.
“Your hands…” Stede whimpers, intending to compliment their powers in some way, but those are the only words he gets out before Ed is caressing the flesh of his upper thighs with reverent fingertips, then splaying his warm palms where he’d been teasing and skimming his thumbs over the crease of his hips.
“Your thighs, mate,” Ed tells him, panting like he’s just run a marathon. “Want you to fuckin’- fuckin’ crush my skull between them, I think.”
“Oh,” Stede gasps, reflexively spreading his legs wider. “I won’t be doing that, Ed, I don’t think, sorry-” he chokes out as Ed’s forearm grazes against the head of his prick, leaving a wet streak across the wings of his swallow tattoo.
“Will you let me live here, at least?” Ed pleads, only half-jokingly, nestling his head between Stede’s thighs, the brush of his salt and pepper curls arousing every single fine blonde hair that grows on that delicate skin.
“Long as you’d like,” Stede titters. “Though I can’t promise I won’t shoot off like a cannon into your eye every time you so much as look at my cock.”
“Oh, are you close then, love?” Ed purrs, his face half-obscured by Stede’s (frankly, obscenely hard) erection.
Stede pouts, making grabby hands at Ed until he rises on his haunches and kisses him again. “You know I am,” he mutters into his mouth.
Ed suddenly sits up so he’s carefully straddling Stede’s knees, purposefully keeping space between their erections. His robe slides down from his shoulders to show an lasciviously large triangle of his sculpted chest, adorned with intricately inked tattoos and downy grey hairs.
“Alrighty. Your turn, I suppose,” he tells Stede, quirking one side of his mouth so far up it nearly reaches his crow’s-feet.
Stede snatches the dice from Ed’s outstretched palm, trying not to overthink it as he quickly shakes them and discards them on the bedcovers.
“What’d you get?” Ed asks, all fake casual, as though he couldn’t care less, but Stede can hear the undercurrent of want in his voice. Stede peers at the result.
Nibble
Nipples
“Ah,” Stede says, his voice shrill and airy. “I suppose I’ll just chomp down then, shall I?”
Ed chokes on his own breath. “All yours, mate,” he manages, sitting straighter up, his posture resembling the stiff poses Stede had been forced to hold for portraits in his previous life. Then, he breathes in, loosens his robe, and juts his chest forward. “My tits are yours for the taking.”
Stede sucks in some air, then lunges forward to plaster his mouth on Edward’s chest. He can’t lie and say he hasn’t been wanting to do this since the first time Ed took off his jacket and revealed the rakishly stretched neck of his t-shirt, the swell of his pecs visible above his collar. Stede plants his hands on the other man’s waist, as much to anchor Ed as it is to anchor himself. He leans in, parting his lips, and flicks the rosy nub with his tongue, and delights in the way the soft flesh quivers against his mouth.
He drags his slightly stubbly cheek along the length of Ed’s breastbone, raising his eyes to meet Ed’s. They’re reverent on him, one of Ed’s hands tangled in his hair. “Keep going,” Ed pleads, and who is Stede to resist that request?
He brings his lips to the other side, letting his tongue lave over the bumps of Ed’s areola, the flushed skin hot against his mouth. Then he gently brings his teeth together over the rigid peak of his nipple. His eyes still on Ed’s, he caresses the firm nub between his teeth, letting his tongue do what it pleases. He draws off slowly and tugs the nipple with his teeth until it springs back. He laves the perky mound, leaving it spit-slicked and glistening in the candlelight. “Beautiful,” he murmurs, tracing a fingertip around his areola.
“Stede…” Ed whimpers, looking at him with a kind of reverence Stede’s never known before.
“Shall I keep going, then?” he asks, a bit cheekily, but mostly because he just wants to know that he’s making Ed feel good.
“I’ll stab you if you don’t,” Ed tells him brusquely, though the threat is undercut by the moan he releases the moment that Stede locks his lips on his other nipple.
The nub is warm between his lips, gorgeously pert and flushed. His lips press around it, licking each ridge and dimple with an adulation he didn’t know he could feel for someone’s chest. He relents from his worship to whisper to Ed, “You’re so beautiful.”
Ed makes a noise best described as a squeak. His hand rises to the nape of Stede’s neck, pressing him closer to his chest. Stede nuzzles the soft, downy hairs as Ed writhes beneath him, bucking his heaving chest up into Stede’s face. Stede presses his lips against the curve of his breast, laying wet kisses along it nearly to Ed’s armpit. Ed’s scent is so concentrated here, the pure musk of him as he swelters lightly in the sultriness of the Caribbean night. The scent of leather seems to be suffused into his skin, an engrained part of him, but there’s also the lavender soap he used before their dinner, and the sugar rush seeping out of his pores. He sighs into the crook of Ed’s arm, enjoying the warmth, the closeness, the finally of it all.
“I thought you said you were going to chomp down,” Ed murmurs. Stede’s mouth stretches into a smile before he hoists himself up, only to dive back in to suck the hardening nipple into his mouth again for a moment, before, in fact, chomping down on the swell of his pec.
The bite is just a bit too sharp, judging by Ed’s gasp of pain, but when Stede releases the peak and tries to pull back to look him in the eyes, Ed immediately presses the back of his neck down, gently but firmly. Stede lets his teeth sink back in, riding the undulations of Ed’s chest as it ripples with his uneven breaths. He rolls his teeth over the raw skin, delighting in the noises Ed is making- breathy little gasps and desperate keens. His lips seal around the flesh, tugging it further into his mouth. He caresses it with his tongue, just as he would if it were Ed’s mouth he was kissing. He retreats a bit, pulling the nipple taut before releasing it, spit-slick and flushed as a wild pink dianthus against a dark bronze halo.
“Lovely,” says Stede, tracing around the pert blossom with a finger, feeling the jolt of Ed’s chest as his breath hitches. “The things I want to do to you, Edward…”
Ed’s head falls back, moaning so loud that the curtains around their nook flutter and his Adam’s apple bobs like it’s a ship being tossed by a storm. Stede takes the chance to adhere his mouth to Ed’s other breast, favouring the resplendent crest rising toward his sternum, adorned by the hull of a ship riding his chest. Stede kisses and licks, putting perhaps a bit too much carnality into his efforts, because a bruise is already forming there, mottled rosy flesh that he can’t help but slip between his teeth again. His hand blindly searches for Ed’s and grasps it tightly when he finds it.
Stede scrapes his teeth over the spot one last time, pulling back to admire the blossoming wine-red bruise. “I haven’t nibbled too much, have I?” he asks, sweeping a lick across the enflamed lovebite to soothe it.
“Never, love,” Ed groans, eyeing his own chest appreciatively. “Want you to mark me up forever. Give me some new tattoos.”
Stede chuckles, just a bit, because the thought that Ed wants anything from him, forever, is nearly unimaginable. But here they are, together, forever having been promised between them; in furtive late-night whispers, tense words exchanged in tones they’d later regret, in the implicit trust they give each other with every touch.
“I think you’d ought to roll the dice again,” Stede whispers, realising the moonlight coming through the curtains is already beginning to wane a bit. Certainly they won’t be playing this game until the sun rises? Not that he would be opposed, but… It’s already been some time, and while he has been able to stave off his orgasm thus far, he thinks it’s only going to get more difficult from here on out to obey his promise to Ed, that this will be the night.
After a brief search through the bedlinens, they discover the dice digging indents into Ed’s side. Stede retrieves them and hands them to Ed, who holds them tight, blowing quickly into his fist before dropping them to the bed.
The first lands between them, the other bounces over the blankets.
Nibble
Stede tuts. “Ugh, we’ve just had that one!”
“Bor-ing,” Ed agrees, reaching over to read the second die. When he says nothing, Stede stretches beside him to look.
Toes
Nibble
Toes
Stede looks at the dice. He looks at Ed.
Ed looks at Stede. He looks back to the dice.
"Um, perhaps we–" Stede begins, while Ed says, "Yeah, nah, maybe we–"
"It's a little on the nose," Stede agrees, leaving that particular can of worms sealed perfectly shut.
Ed scoops the carved dice up, rattling them in his palm before giving two sharp blows this time.
Stede cocks a brow.
"For luck," Ed explains.
"At least someone's getting blown," Stede snipes, nodding at the spot the dice are set to land. "Get on with it."
"Oh, impatient, are we, sweetheart?" Ed teases, shaking the dice much more slowly. He raises his arm as if stretching, shaking the things around his head lazily.
Stede narrows his gaze, settling back on the one elbow and drawing his robe leisurely over his leg, pausing only at the crease of his thigh where silk tents around his hard-on. "No, no," he offers, canting a hip in an equally playful stretch, "take your time, dear."
Ed aims the dice at his waist, grinning wryly when they land in the valley of fabric gathered at Stede's hip. "Ah, clumsy me," he mutters, shimmying down the bed. "Let me just…" he reaches out gingerly, plucking one die from his lap, his wrist sliding slowly up and down Stede’s dick.
"You awful tease," Stede hisses, arching into the touch.
Ed makes a gleeful sound and holds the little cube up to him.
Balls.
Stede gulps.
Ed repeats the little pantomime of retrieving the second die, rubbing the back of his hand up and down Stede's cock as if he can't quite find the toy in the fold of his robes.
"Awful, awful man," Stede says with a pout as Ed rummages.
"Lovely," Ed murmurs once he finally has the thing. He holds the die out proudly.
Suck.
Stede looks from one die to the other.
Suck
Balls
He huffs. "Can't catch a break, can we?"
"Whadya mean?" Ed asks, this time without the playful innocence.
"Well, really, that can't be pleasurable!" Stede says. "I mean, it's a well known rebuke, this sucks balls, or so-and-so can suck my balls." He falls dramatically into the pillows.
"Hey, Stede," Ed says, without a hint of his own frustration, "Can I be so-and-so?"
"Can you what?" Stede peers up at him warily.
"Can I suck your balls?" He looks down at Stede hungrily, a smirk playing at his lips.
"You want to?" Stede asks, half-confused, half-annoyed, and entirely too horny for guessing games such as this.
"Yeah," Ed tells him simply. "You want me to?"
Stede's still a little suspicious, but his cock gives a jaunty twitch of assent. "Yes?"
Ed grins wolfishly. "Just say if you don't like it." And with that he's flat on his belly and wrenching Stede’s thighs apart.
"Darling, are you sure you want–" Stede yowls as Ed sucks one of his testicles into his mouth. It's so hot and Ed’s lips are so soft; his tongue laps at the sensitive skin of his scrotum, as if he’s relishing the command. Just as quickly, he's gently released Stede and is licking at his sack, hands sliding under his arse and prompting Stede to tilt his pelvis back to give him better access. When Stede complies, Ed hums his thanks, mouth open wide and tongue rolling in figure-8’s, jostling his balls in smooth motions. Then his palm is joining in on the proceedings, thumb stroking the seam of Stede's sack while he lathes hot sucking kisses to the soft skin. Stede wriggles and whimpers, half-afraid of poking Ed's eye out with his prick and half-afraid of a misstep where Ed tugs too hard and the whole thing ends in tears. But Ed seems to know, or guess, keeping his touch steady, long licks all up his scrotum, tip of his tongue occasionally meeting the base of Stede's cock and sending sparks of pleasure shooting up his spine.
Stede moans throatily, fingers scraping at the bedding as Ed laps at the underside of his dick. Sure, they've had hands on each other, but mouths have never made it below the belt.
"Yeah?" Ed asks him, still rolling his spit-slicked sack in his palm.
"Oh my god, Ed-ward," Stede manages, voice cracking on the final syllable.
"I can feel you, you know," Ed says softly, running his tongue all the way to the tip of Stede’s prick. "Your cock jumping while my mouth's on your nuts."
Stede sobs, the vibrations of Ed's words echoing through his very core; ripples of pleasure that send goosebumps racing across his flushed body.
Ed continues massaging his balls, weaving his tongue back down to the base of Stede's dick. He wiggles the tip against the seam of Stede's sack, giving quick licks and then playful pecks, all the way back to his cockhead.
"You're so pretty, like this," Ed murmurs, slowly sliding back his foreskin and twirling his tongue around the tip.
Stede whines loudly. "E–hed."
Ed locks eyes with him and drags the flat of his tongue over Stede's slit. He parts from Stede’s prick with a gentle peck. "You taste so good."
Stede gives a hopeless strangled sound, clenching against coming right then and there.
Ed licks his lips, gaze roaming from Stede's face to his dick and back again. "I can keep going, if you want?" It's wry but gentle, the way he asks.
"I'm afraid I mightn't…" Stede says breathily, and Ed frowns a little. "I mean, I don't think I have much… going left."
"Just coming?" Ed guesses smugly.
Heat creeps over Stede’s cheeks as he nods. Ed drags himself closer and passes him the dice, dropping one then the other into Stede’s waiting palm. He rolls them around, gaze flickering between the objects and Ed’s dark eyes; his pupils blown and shining like the glossy ebony.
Stede brings the dice to his mouth, but opts to press his lips to them, rather than blow as Ed had.
“Damn,” he admonishes himself, “is that still lucky?” he asks, realising he may have made a terrible faux pas.
Ed’s heated gaze turns gooey. “Lucky for them,” he says with a teasing lilt.
Stede bites down on a wide grin, giggling as he tosses the dice onto the bedding. The pair swoop forward to read them.
Kiss
Lips
“Oh,” Stede says, while Ed offers, “Hm.”
It’s a little underwhelming, after all the ear fucking and ball sucking. Stede scrunches his nose in annoyance. “Perhaps I can roll again?”
“Yeah, sure, man,” Ed agrees, still looking at him with a soft smile and those wide, twinkling eyes. “Just gotta do this first.”
Stede perks up, wondering what gambling trick Ed is about to show him. Then all of a sudden Ed’s face is right in front of his, and he’s pressing in for a quick peck on the lips. Stede titters as he pulls away. It’s nowhere near as sensual as their other activities this evening, but the gentleness of it swells Stede’s heart.
“Still lucky, then?” Stede asks, forefinger pressed to the pointed corner of one die as he rolls it side to side.
Ed doesn’t look down, just winks as he says, “Yeah, love. Always lucky.”
With that, Stede flicks the ebony die into the ivory one, sending them tumbling over the sheets. Both men peer forward as the dice fall into place.
Lick
Dick
Ed snickers.
Stede swallows.
“Well, that’s, uh, poetic,” he offers, certain his cheeks are now positively glowing with heat.
“Thought you liked poetry, mate,” Ed teases, waggling his eyebrows.
Stede’s mouth is still dry. “I do,” he manages hoarsely. His focus falls to Ed, to the swathes of silk hanging off him, his parted thighs. His eyes catch on the blooming purple bruise on his breast, close to his heart, and his breath falters. “I really like it,” he continues, voice cracking as he shifts himself down the bed, falling awkwardly to his elbows between Ed’s legs.
He stares reverently at Ed’s cock. It rises from his silvered curls and rests against his belly. Stede’s never seen it this close before- never seen any dick this close before- and he’s fascinated by the ridges and standing veins, the deep flush of the head, and how it’s become glossy with Ed’s excitement.
All of Stede’s nerves and decorum are overwhelmed by the singular base need to taste.
He starts with a tentative flick of his tongue to Ed’s shaft, and feels the thing jump at the contact.
A gasp follows, Ed arching up to meet him. Stede sways forward, planting his palms on either side of Ed’s hips and leaning down, eyes fixed on Ed’s as he drags the tip of his tongue over the straining erection.
“Aw fuck– yesss,” Ed hisses, his belly drawn tight as he wheezes. Stede moves steadily toward his cockhead, little kitten licks until at last he reaches the slit. Both men moan, Ed’s head thrown back against the pillows and Stede’s tipped to the side as he savours the sea-salt tang.
“Gorgeous,” Stede says, all whispered awe. He runs the flat of his tongue around the head of Ed’s cock, fascinated by the subtle differences between them. He’s used to the feel of his own prick in hand, the slide of foreskin as he rolls his thumb. Ed’s crown is flared, flushed to a deep shade of plum and pulsing with every flick of Stede’s tongue. He lathes slow, soft lashes, moving from tip to base and back again. Ed whimpers all the while, his fingers knotted in the sheets, the tendons of his arms and legs all strained.
Stede leans back, taking a break from the dick-licking to stroke his hand up Ed’s shaft. He’s fascinated by the feel of it in his grasp; the way he can feel his blood rushing into it, the skin shifting over that hard core. Stede can’t help but put Ed’s cock back in his mouth- his jaw loosening, tongue extended, lips falling slack so he can take him in as deep as he can. His cockhead, leaking salty-sweet precum that floods Stede’s mouth, bumps against the roof of his mouth, and he has to readjust his angle. Then it’s gliding into his soft palate, making him gag just a little, but he breathes in through his nose and manages to get it even further.
“Stede, love–” Ed gasps, chest shaking, “–dunno if I can- nnmm…”
Ed’s hand shifts to the top of his head and Stede pulls back with a start, the point of his tongue still protruding. He blinks up at the man and Ed laughs through his nose, his palm pressing now to Stede’s cheek.
“Gonna blow if you don’t stop,” he says, voice rough.
Stede gulps then wets his lips, still hardly able to believe that he could have such an effect on Ed. He glances again at Ed’s swollen dick, then back to the man’s blushed cheeks.
“Wow,” he utters, astonished.
Ed chuckles as he sits himself up. “Yeah, wow,” he mimics, a cheeky grin lighting up his face. “Give me a minute.” He closes his eyes and takes deep breaths in, nostrils flaring and the air hissing as he releases it from his mouth. “You. We’re gonna do that again, sometime soon,” he says, still sounding absolutely wrecked.
“I look forward to it!” Stede chirps, laying a hand on Ed’s bicep. Ed’s eyes open then, and he snatches up the dice from the far side of the bed. “Reckon you can do the honours,” he says, holding his palm out to Stede.
“Oh?” Stede’s certain the blood in his cheeks is now creeping further along and turning his ears red too.
“Mm.” Ed leans forward, rubs his nose to Stede’s. His voice is playful but low. “You’re pretty good at blowing, mate.”
Stede can’t help his snort of laughter, near knocking Ed in the head as he cackles. It’s the nervous energy and fizzing excitement all sputtering out of him. He tries his best to swallow it back, lips rolled into his mouth as he turns to Ed’s open hand and the little cubes waiting there. But his shoulders shake with delight as he puffs air over the dice, Ed joining in his amusement.
“Ta, love,” he says, planting a kiss on Stede's temple. “Bet that’s the luckiest yet.” Ed releases the dice with a flick of his wrist and the pair again lean forward to watch them roll around on the bedding. The ivory die wobbles a moment longer before falling beside its mate.
Fuck
Arse
Stede squeaks.
Ed nudges him, lips to his ear. “What’d I say. You’ve got the touch, love.”
“A– I-It’s a little crass, isn’t it?” Stede finally stammers. Perhaps giving two silly little carved dice the run of their most romantic of nights had been a complete mistake after all.
“Nah,” Ed says, curling further into him. Stede can feel the tension in his touch, the strings pulled taut. But his tone is playful, lilting, as he presses more slow kisses to Stede’s jaw. “It’s shorthand for make sweet, sweet, tender love to your darlingest, dearest sweetheart.”
“Oh…?” Stede snickers, relaxing into his caress.
“Pirate term,” Ed says, easing Stede’s limp robe down his forearms and over his fingertips.
“You learn something new every day!” Stede giggles, copying Ed’s actions and sliding silk over his shoulders, letting it pool on the bed behind him. He tries to calm himself, to slow his shallow breaths and steady his shaking hands. They’re really doing this; the deed. Going all the way, making love…
Fucking.
“Fuck…” Stede wheezes, and Ed grins back at him, “Yeah.”
“This alright?” he continues, running a hand up and down Stede’s chest. “Me, doing the–”
“Fucking?” Stede cuts in. “Oh yes, very alright.” He presses in closer, catching Ed’s lips in a slow caress. “Very, very alright.”
Ed pulls back, hands on either side of Stede’s face, his expression earnest. “Just– ‘cause, then you’ll know how it feels, for when you do me.”
Stede shivers, the opportunities before them endless and tantalising. He chases Ed as he retreats, claiming his mouth once more. “I already said yes, darling.”
“Yep, cool… yeah.” Ed meets his kisses more hungrily, only breaking when his smile grows too wide.
Stede grins back, so happy he feels tipsy with it.
Ed ducks his gaze, fingers fidgeting with Stede’s where they’re linked.
“I haven’t, y’know, done this the slow way…” He swallows the rest of the sentence, but his face is open without all the beard he used to hide behind. There’s worry and hope and want written all over his features and Stede adores him all the more for it.
“I haven’t done this any way,” Stede reminds him. “Well, not the, uh, buggery.”
Ed snorts. “Pfft, real romantic when you put it that way, mate.”
“Alright then,” Stede says, leaning back against their pile of pillows. He smirks and wags his brows encouragingly. “Come show me how you put it.”
“Okay, maybe I will. I’ll romance the pants right off you, mate.” Ed moves over him on all fours, grinning hungrily.
Stede gestures to his bare form. “Done!”
Ed laughs, body melting down into the bed beside him, first retrieving a little bottle from the bedside table before turning to face Stede. He walks fingertips up Stede’s shoulder, skating up toward the hinge of his jaw. He beams at Stede as he brushes the fine curls at his temple. “Look at us go, man. Fuckin’ killing it with the romance.”
Stede giggles, more of that giddy anticipation spilling over. He presses in, tip of his nose to Ed’s. “Five stars, no notes.”
“Only five?” Ed scoffs.
“Ten…? I mean, five does typically signify the utmost excellence,” Stede offers, snickering.
“Nah, c’mon, we can do better than that,” Ed says jovially.
Stede can hear the soft pop of a cork and he braces himself, one hand fidgeting in the sheets, the other reaching to clasp the crown of Ed’s head, keeping his mouth on his jaw. “Ten out of ten is as good as it gets!” he tells Ed matter-of-factly. The other man just snickers, blowing hot puffs of air against Stede’s cheek. Then Ed’s nudging his thighs apart with a knee and there’s a hand on Stede’s side and he freezes, fingers clawing at Ed and their bedding.
“‘S okay,” Ed croons, tracing fingertips up his inner thigh, “Breathe, love.”
Stede does as he’s told, sucking in a shaking breath. Ed’s touch creeps higher, brushing the sensitive skin behind his balls. It’s such a soft, skimming thing, but Stede shivers, his cock twitching and thighs quivering already.
“Another deep breath,” Ed says, voice low but strained. “Gonna make you feel so good, sweetheart.”
Stede whines, hips arching sharply as Ed’s fingertips trace his entrance. He feels himself flutter at the touch, his body beckoning Edward as he mumbles, “Please… Ed…”
“I’ve gotta earn that rating, mate,” Ed says, teasing a fingertip inside, tracing the puckered rim of muscle with his ring finger.
Stede squirms, canting his hips in encouragement. “It’s all yours, darling, ten stars, twenty, just– please.”
Ed makes a thoughtful sound as he presses more kisses to the crook of Stede’s neck. “Twenty? Nah, c’mon love.” He presses inside, just to the first knuckle, twisting slowly. “We’re gonna win at this romantic fuckin’ shit.”
“I thought we were making love?” Stede quips. He sinks his fingers further into Ed’s hair, vaguely attempting to either hurry the man, or pull him closer.
“Yeah,” Ed says, pushing in deeper. “That’s us, love-making gold-medalists.” He twists his finger as if emphasising the words, and Stede whimpers for more.
“It’s not a competition!” he chastises, even as more of those giddy giggles tumble from Stede’s lips.
“Mm, think it is, actually, mate,” Ed tells him as he thrusts a little harder, his thick finger sweeping against Stede’s tender walls. “And we’re gonna fucking win.”
Inside him, the stretch is giving way to a new sensation. A shiver runs through Stede as the pleasure simmers, sparking up his spine. Ed alternates rubbing around his rim, inside and out, his thumb stroking the space between Stede’s hole and sack. Each caress is measured, slick and smooth, but the sensations that wash over him are immense. Ed’s finger slips deeper, twisting as he eases inside. It’s so much; it’s not enough.
“Ready for another?” Ed asks, and his voice is husky, like he’s the one being taken apart. Stede whines and nods his head eagerly.
It's so careful, the way Ed presses into him. Just fingertips, then knuckles, the whole time his gaze fixed on Stede.
“Yeah?” Ed asks, stilling to give his body time to adjust to the intrusion.
“Yeah,” Stede tells him, nodding quickly and canting his hips.
He gets a lopsided grin for his efforts, Ed’s teeth caught on his lip as if he’s trying to bite something back. “This might feel a bit… weird, okay?”
“I like weird,” Stede reminds him, and Ed laughs through his nose. He has an idea of what Ed’s referring to; may have read a pamphlet or two on the subject; may have tried once or twice to twist himself up and reach it. But then Ed nudges in and hooks his fingers and–
“Oh fuck!”
The sensation seems to spill from his pelvis, a trembling, flicker of a feeling.
Stede stares up at Ed, the man watching on with blazing eyes, his expression somewhere between satisfaction and surprise. “Do it again,” Stede commands.
Ed obliges, and with just the gentlest curl of his fingers that feeling shimmies inside Stede again. An impossible surge, skittering sparks that promise to scorch him.
“Will it–” Stede blinks up at him, barely able to snap his jaw shut. “When you… when we…” He steadies himself with a gulp of air. “Will it feel like that?”
Ed’s lips curl into a proper smile now, the kind that reaches his eyes, radiates into the creases. “Sure will, mate.”
“Oh. Okay.” Stede flutters his lashes as Ed’s fingertips sweep again, just enough to tease, to set those cinders inside him alight. “We should probably… do that… then.”
“I should fuck you?” Ed corkscrews his fingers and Stede whimpers.
“I thought we were– nnnmn– we were, hah, making tender, sweet love?” Stede does his best to tease despite every cell in his body and every synapse in his brain currently reconfiguring within him.
Ed huffs; half groan, half laugh. “Fuck yeah we are.”
He pulls his fingers out, teasing at his rim as he goes, and Stede suddenly feels bereft without anything inside of him.
“Want you,” he whines, vaguely aware that he sounds desperate, but he’s gone his whole life with a hunger he didn’t know how to sate. Now, he’s ready to feast.
Ed settles beside him, turning Stede onto his side and curling around him. “Like this,” he murmurs, and Stede moulds to his touch, body pliant, lips pleading.
Ed’s fussing between them, more slick spilling and more muffled moans as he mouths at Stede’s neck. “Gonna make you feel so good, love,” he murmurs, fingertips pressing more oil into him, and then Ed’s hands and knees are nudging his legs wider apart.
Stede can only manage a breathy sigh.
“Deep breath,” Ed says, his own exhale shaky as he slips an arm underneath him. Stede gulps in air noisily, catching Ed’s hand and holding it against his chest as if to guide him. Then there’s pressure, the blunt head of Ed’s prick breaching him. Ed whines as he eases forward. He presses his forehead to the nape of Stede’s neck, his breath coming hot and ragged as he rocks. The movements are minute, just his cockhead slipping back and forth, but Stede whimpers involuntarily, clutching at his hand as those nerves within him are set aglow one by one.
“More, please,” he gasps, grinding back against Ed.
Ed makes a choked sobbing sound, his fingers grasping Stede’s hand as he slowly sinks his cock in. “Okay?” he asks, pressing kisses into Stede’s shoulder.
“Ed,” Stede breathes. He leans into him, arching his neck to coax more of those kisses. Their bodies are still, but in the same way that the eye of a hurricane is still; they’re engulfed in wet heat, rippling with static, as they wait with bated breath. Stede melts into the pressure of it. He longs for more, within him, around him; every inch, every follicle; all of it sings his name: Ed.
Ed wraps his leg over Stede’s bent knees, anchoring him, keeping him so close that he feels enveloped by him. Within him, like a message snuggled in a bottle. A love letter, held so tightly that he can’t help but feel safe and protected.
Stede’s full of warmth, basking in it like a cat in sunshine. Ed’s arm wraps around his sternum, anchoring him against his chest. Stede draws his hand toward his face, pressing his lips against it in an attempt at a chaste peck. He fails when Ed begins moving his hips, his mouth falling slack until he’s pressing an open-mouthed moan into Ed’s knuckles.
“You are so gorgeous, love,” Ed says, the words bursting from his lips as though he couldn’t hold them back the moment he had the thought. “You’re so gorgeous for me.” He undulates his body in a slow rhythm, like waves lapping against the shore. Ed’s hips roll against his arse as he draws back and surges forward, and Stede gasps. That heady warmth shatters into something sparkling; pulsing, shimmering bursts of pleasure with every brush of Ed’s cock. All those stars Edward promised they’d win, Stede sees them now, feels them; dazzling, dancing bright behind his eyelids, and blazing deep within him. A thousand stars, he thinks to tell Ed, a hundred million.
“Need more,” Stede whines, thrusting his arse back against Ed’s cock, driving it deeper. Ed's arms move to bracket him, one hand holding Stede's, clutched to his chest, the other fist wrapping loosely around his cock. Never in his life has he felt held like this; their bodies bound, breaths and heartbeats coming as one.
He’d known from their earlier rushed touches and desperate rutting that sex could feel amazing. Knows now, from their game, that foreplay only adds to the experience; a degustation, a most delicious banquet.
But how could he have anticipated this, decadence beyond his wildest dreams, pleasure like nothing he knew was possible. Their bodies rolling together, Ed’s legs tangled in his, Ed’s arms around his chest, Ed’s hand giving his cock those long, lazy pulls. It’s the sweetest embrace he’s ever known. It’s all-consuming, the way they melt into each other, skin slapping and sticking with sweat, Ed dragging his kisses down Stede’s neck and jaw and shoulder.
“Fuck, sweetheart,” Ed pants, the vowels all spun loose and stretched like melted sugar. “I didn’t… nnmnnnff– didn’t know it could be like this.”
“I always hoped,” Stede manages, his throat full-up with stars and sighs and sobs. “Always wanted…” He wonders if Ed can feel the way his heart thuds beneath his palm, wonders if it’s grown as big as it feels within him.
Ed moans as if in answer, somehow clutching his chest and cock even tighter. “You feel so good, love– fuck, you’re so fucking lovely, Stede.”
“Ed,” he utters. “Please, Ed.”
Stede doesn’t realise how close he is to coming until he’s tottering at the precipice. It’s a steady swelling, like the inky colours of the night sky bleeding into dawn light, beckoning the sunbeams about to spill over the horizon. He had always known there must be more to sex, but this is astounding. How can it feel so decadently slow, and yet so dizzyingly fast? How can it feel like falling and flying at once?
“Ed,” Stede says, is all he can say. “Ed, Ed…”
“Let go for me, sweetheart,” Ed encourages him, jerking his hips with more force and rapidity than before. He presses his face to the sweaty dip between Stede’s shoulder blades, murmuring words that Stede can’t hear but feels, sinking into his skin like a salve for all those invisible wounds he’s borne throughout the years.
With one last punched-out gasp, he’s there- his toes and fingers curling as if singed, the white-hot light behind his eyelids blinding, the charge ringing in his ears. The furnace in his gut unfurls as he spills over Ed’s fist.
“Stede–”
Behind him, Ed’s hips stutter, the sound of his pleasure coming out in a shattered wail. His movement slows, and his sobs turn to muffled laughter.
They both pant heavily. The stillness and silence of the cabin beyond the curtains seems to bring them back to reality.
“Why are you laughing?” Stede sulks, pulling a face that Ed can’t even see, not with the way he’s still smooshing his nose into the damp curls at the nape of Stede’s neck.
“‘m not,” Ed giggles, clearly still in the throes of some bout of euphoric hysteria. “Not laughing. Jus’ happy.”
Stede feels himself smile, his hand grasping Ed’s even tighter. “Happy?” he asks, a bit tentatively.
“Happy,” Ed confirms gleefully, pressing his lips against Stede’s shoulder with a loud smack. “Very happy.” Stede’s sure he can feel Ed’s lips curling into a smile against him. "Reckon we earned those twenty stars?"
It's enough to make Stede shiver, the pleasure still leaching through him, housed bright and glittering between his hips, his ribs. "All the stars," he murmurs.
Ed nuzzles into his back, still within him, limbs wound tight, as if not yet wanting to break their union. Ed presses more slow, sweeping kisses into the curve of his shoulder, his beard tickling Stede’s cooling skin. He twists a little, guiding the caress to creep further up his neck and Stede obliges easily, Ed’s lips soon at the hinge of his jaw. As comfortable as he is, aloft in his contentment, Stede needs Ed closer still.
Needs the drag of his lips and puffs of hot air and sweet sighs all rolling into his own mouth.
Needs his arms around the man- needs most of all to see Ed’s face, the look in his eyes now that they’ve finally, at long last, made love.
“Ed?” he asks, unable to say much more, and Ed seems to know exactly what he’s wanting.
Ed arches back to reach behind himself, legs still tangled around Stede, still joined at the hips with him. Stede guesses he’s grabbing a handkerchief from the stash in the bedside drawer. He glows a little more with how considerate Ed is to him.
Where Stede had anticipated embarrassment or perhaps discomfort, Ed stays draped around his shoulders, still trailing kisses as he wipes the soft cloth between them with deft but gentle care. Then Ed slips back around him, Stede rolling to meet him and falling easily into languid, open-mouth kisses.
Limbs entwined and fingers wound in hair, their tender kisses saying more than either of them are currently capable of articulating.
Thank you for taking care of me, and I love you, and–
“Mmf!”
Stede jolts as something presses sharply into his hip. A little digging within the bedding and he retrieves the ebony die. He holds it up proudly to Ed.
“Where’s the other little bugger?” he asks, clambering back onto Stede and patting him down. Stede squirms against the attack, cackling loudly as Ed paws and tickles his way across his body. “Eureka!” Somehow Ed does retrieve the other die, though not before giving Stede’s backside one last squeeze.
They each hold out their die, side by side, turning them around, both squinting at the racy combinations in the low light.
Ed clacks his die to Stede’s. “Nibble dick?”
“Oh, no thank you, couldn’t have another morsel!” he giggles, as they turn the dice between them. “Suck ears?”
“Like a wet willy?” Ed lifts an eyebrow in careful consideration.
“That’d be lick ears, wouldn’t it?” Stede ponders.
“Oh yeah?”
Stede shrieks when Ed nuzzles in and pokes the tip of his tongue in his ear.
“In the earhole!? Really?”
Ed just cackles, shoulders shaking as he falls back into the pillows beside him. “You love it,” he finally wheezes.
Stede screws up his nose. “I don’t think I do,” he says with a pout, and Ed plants a kiss on his cheek in apology. He reaches for Stede’s hand, turning his die until they now read Lick Arse.
“How’s that, then?”
Stede glances from him to the dice and back again. “Is this another one of those things that sounds like a joke but is actually going to change my entire perception of reality?”
Ed grins at him and waggles his brows. “Sure fuckin’ is, mate. Sure is, love.”