Chapter Text
Arthur swore under his breath as the last of his lube decided to spill absolutely everywhere except on the plug he was about to put up his arse. A glance at the clock told him he had ten more minutes to wait before Merlin arrived and he did not plan on spending those minutes with his fingers where the plug should be. He shook the little bottle and squeezed until some drizzled onto the black silicone in front of him.
Arthur spread the liquid as generously as possible with his free hand, then lifted his leg and shifted his weight to push the plug inside. He was just biting his lip against the dull burn when three hard knocks sounded on his door.
Merlin was early. With a grunt, Arthur shoved the plug the remaining distance and put on his pants, for the sake of anyone who might be in the hallway. He wiped his oily hands on his legs as he went to answer the door.
“Hiya,” Merlin greeted him brightly and shuffled in quickly. He rid himself of his beanie and scarf quickly, throwing them carelessly on the sofa.
Arthur closed the door nearly on Merlin’s heels. “Hey. You’re early.”
Merlin pulled his jumper over his head as he walked toward Arthur’s bedroom. Arthur followed him.
“Yeah,” Merlin sighed. “My lecture finished early, so here I am. You weren’t busy were you? No, didn’t think so.” Merlin answered his own question without giving Arthur time to.
Arthur crawled onto his bed and peeled off his pants as Merlin toed off his trainers. “Have you got any lube? I’ve just run out.”
Merlin raised an eyebrow at the visible flared base of the black plug. “Couldn’t wait? Or are we in a rush today?”
Arthur began stroking his cock to hardness. Watching as Merlin revealed more and more pale skin was certainly helping.
“Wanted to get right into it,” Arthur admitted.
Merlin laughed and finally dropped his jeans, taking his pants along with them. His cock was soft but Arthur knew it was only a matter of time.
“You’re insatiable, you know that?” Merlin teased as he rifled through his pockets.
“Lucky you,” Arthur replied back easily.
“Lucky for my bank account. You’re my best client.”
“So you always say. Stop talking and fuck me, yeah?”
Merlin tutted but came over and got on the bed anyways, lube and condom in hand. Arthur noted with satisfaction that he had already started to harden. He widened his legs and inhaled sharply when the plug moved inside him just right.
Merlin dragged the tip of his cock down the inside of Arthur’s thigh. Arthur shivered and hardened along with Merlin as the teasing caress lingered on. Any other time, Arthur would ask for Merlin to trace his skin and leave glistening trails all over him, or to simply take the cock in his mouth and feel Merlin get fat for him on his tongue. This time Arthur just wanted it in his arse.
“Merlin, come on,” Arthur urged quietly. He wouldn’t have called it whining, though the tone of his voice was just barely off.
“Insatiable and impatient,” Merlin chided. “You do remember what happened the last time you were so impatient, don’t you?”
“You got yourself off before we’d even started and I had to wait twenty minutes,” Arthur replied, bristling at the memory. He’d also had to pay extra for the time. Merlin had filled the wait by fucking him with his tongue, but he also wouldn’t let Arthur finish, and that had just been cruel.
“You loved it,” Merlin said, smiling, as if he was reading Arthur’s mind.
“Merlin.”
Merlin said nothing, but the corners of his lips twitched up a little higher, almost imperceptibly if Arthur hadn’t been paying attention.
Then he couldn’t pay attention to anything at all save the sensation in his arse. Merlin removed the plug gently, placed it beside them on the bed, and fiddled with the condom wrapper. Arthur took slow, calming breaths as he let his eyes wander and finally fall to the plug. If this turned out to be one of their rougher fucks—and Arthur hoped it would—the plug would bounce off the bed and onto the floor fairly soon. Still, Arthur didn’t bother moving it.
“Ready?”
Arthur looked up. Merlin was staring down at him with pursed lips and a furrowed brow. His strong, slender hands were running up and down Arthur’s thighs, leaving a tingling path of pleasure in their wake. Looking into Merlin’s seemingly endless eyes, Arthur felt something click into place, and nodded.
“Yeah, come on then.”
Merlin wet his lips and shuffled forward on his knees. When the head of his cock nudged Arthur’s hole, Arthur tried not to push forward too eagerly. He fought every urge to piston his hips up and take Merlin as quickly as human capability would allow.
Merlin seemed to enjoy taking his time. “Like slipping into the perfect size glove,” he’d always say. That’s exactly how it felt when Arthur slipped into Merlin and how it was now with Merlin’s cock pushing deeper and deeper. Just puzzle pieces slotting into place.
Arthur took a deep breath, and when he exhaled, Merlin had completely sheathed himself. Arthur shot his hand out to grab hold of Merlin’s wrist and nodded wordlessly for him to continue.
They’d been doing this for months. Merlin had become more than just a rent boy Arthur rang when he needed a good shag; he’d become a friend, of sorts. So Arthur didn’t have to tell Merlin to give it to him rough tonight, that he needed to be fucked so hard he forgot his own name. Merlin just knew.
Merlin retreated nearly all the way before slamming back in. Arthur let his head fall back, and his jaw slackened as Merlin rocked his body against the mattress. Arthur lost awareness of anything but the soft duvet beneath him and Merlin driving relentlessly into arse. His nerves were on fire and his vision pulsed around the edges in time with Merlin’s thrusts.
The faster the pace, the closer Arthur came to finishing. He curled his fingers tighter around Merlin’s arms, anchoring himself as Merlin rode him like a wave. Merlin had his head hanging low and his fringe tickled Arthur’s throat. Merlin’s breath danced hot across Arthur’s chest until Merlin leaned forward and attached his lips to Arthur’s neck. When Merlin moaned, Arthur felt it thrum through him.
Somehow Merlin had flattened himself to Arthur and Arthur absently wrapped his limbs around Merlin like a monkey. His cock rubbed rhythmically between them and he hugged Merlin closer for more. As Merlin’s hands snaked their way under Arthur to grab hold of his shoulders, Arthur felt his climax building low in his groin. He could feel it edging closer, feel his balls drawing up tight just as Merlin growled in his ear and grazed his teeth over sweaty skin.
Arthur clenched around the cock pumping inside him. He squeezed with what seemed to be every muscle in his body, and his nails dug into Merlin’s soft flesh. His body was locking up and he was so very close...
Merlin grunted again, gave a particularly hard thrust that caused a stutter in the rhythm. He shifted his weight and trailed a teasing hand up Arthur’s side. Arthur gasped for breath at the sensations it left dancing on his skin.
Then suddenly Merlin’s hand closed around his throat, grip tightening ever so slightly. Arthur swallowed and his Adam’s apple forced itself past Merlin’s thumb pressing against it. He made himself focus his vision and zeroed in on Merlin’s eyes. They were dark, the pupils blown wide with lust. Arthur forced a whimpering noise out of his throat and Merlin tensed up, his grip tightening just enough to bring Arthur over the edge as well.
When Merlin finished completely, his hand slid from around Arthur’s neck and he pulled out to collapse on his side. Arthur took lungfuls of air and looked around, feeling lost and dizzy. As his mind cleared and he came back down, he reached out for Merlin and found an elbow. He wrapped his fingers around it and held tight while he finished catching his breath.
“Bad week?” Merlin asked after a little while.
“Terrible,” Arthur said. “Today was the worst.” He let go of Merlin’s elbow and Merlin stood to clean up.
“Yeah? Wanna talk about it?”
“Not really. Tell me what you’ve been up to.” Arthur propped himself up and watched Merlin get dressed.
“Same as usual, really. Lectures, clients, revision. More lectures.”
“Hmm. Any shady clients?”
“You jealous?” Merlin cocked a cheeky eyebrow as he stepped into his jeans.
Arthur laughed. “Just want to know you won’t be giving me anything besides good sex.”
“Please, Arthur, it’s not as if I work street corners. You know that.”
Arthur did know. “Yeah. Just...be careful, okay? For your sake as well.”
Merlin put a hand to his heart and pushed his eyebrows up in a slant. “Oh, Arthur, I didn’t know you cared.”
“Oh for the love of—Money’s by the door, you idiot. Sod off.” Arthur sat up and shooed him away.
Merlin laughed and just smiled contentedly to himself as he tied his shoelaces. When he stood to leave, he hesitated at Arthur’s bedroom door.
“Really, though. You alright?”
Arthur sighed and ran a tired hand over his face. The truth was that he was fed up with his daft coworkers and was sick of having to clean up after them. But it wasn’t like Merlin wanted to hear about that.
“I’ll be fine, I guess. At the rate things are going, I’ll probably ring you again soon,” Arthur said.
Merlin nodded like he expected as much. “See you later then.”
On his way out, Merlin bent to pick up the plug that had landed near the door and tossed it back onto the bed. He left with a wink that had Arthur’s stomach fluttering.
&&
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Arthur. Are you at home?” Arthur switched his mobile to his other hand as he turned a corner, nearly running over a young man on a bicycle. It’d only been three days since Arthur had last seen Merlin, but after the day he’d just had, Merlin was the only thing that could keep him from going straight home to a bottle of vodka.
“Yeah,” Merlin replied. There was a shuffling of papers in the background.
“Is your flatmate there?”
“No. You wanna come over?”
“If you’re not busy.”
“It’s nothing I can’t put off. You’re gonna pay, right?”
“Of course.” Arthur was mildly irritated Merlin even thought he might try to take up his time without paying.
“Brilliant. Same rate as always when you come to me. See you soon.” Merlin hung up without another word.
Six minutes later, Arthur took the lift up to Merlin’s flat. He only had to knock once before Merlin opened the door.
“You look like shit,” Merlin said in greeting.
“I feel like it.”
Merlin sighed and pulled Arthur in. “C’mere and let me give you a rub down.”
Arthur felt the day’s tension drain from him instantly. Merlin always knew what he needed.
Taking off his clothes was like removing heavy armour. Arthur peeled away the layers of his exterior until all that was left was himself, naked and vulnerable. He stretched out on Merlin’s lumpy bed, one side of his face buried in the mattress, and relaxed. He waited for Merlin’s soothing hands to drive out all uneasiness and pain.
Arthur let his eyes fall closed and calmed his breathing as he listened to the sounds of Merlin walking around the room. There was the snap of a cap, the squelching sound of air being forced out of a tube, and then the shock of oil drizzling down Arthur’s spine. He shivered at the first contact and only relaxed when Merlin’s hands spread themselves wide, rubbing the massage oil into Arthur’s skin.
Sometimes Arthur would get scared. Sometimes, when he lay naked with his back to this man he didn’t really know, Arthur became aware of how much trust he was placing in Merlin’s hands, and it frightened him. Arthur depended on Merlin for majority of his happiness, possibly even his sanity. If Merlin were to disappear from his life, or to suddenly stop offering his services, Arthur didn’t know what he’d do.
“You’re thinking,” Merlin chided softly, his hands moulding to Arthur’s ribcage and working in circles. “No more of that.”
An oily finger came up and ran across the hair of Arthur’s eyebrow. Arthur realised he was frowning and made an effort to relax his face. He focused on breathing and compared each exhale to wind blowing through a field of wheat. Slowly but surely, Merlin’s hands kneading his muscles, combined with the pastoral view in his imagination, drove out all fears.
Merlin moved to Arthur’s shoulders, where the tension seemed the worst. Deceptively strong fingers dug into the muscle, massaged around the collarbone and the neck. Merlin shifted on the bed, straddled Arthur from behind for easier maneuverability, and moved flexible thumbs in circles in the divot between Arthur’s shoulder blades. Arthur moaned into the coarse blanket.
The hands worked downward, past Arthur’s back where they’d already performed their magic, to his thighs. Merlin squeezed and wrung out every last bit of tightness there until Arthur was pleasantly lax. He moved methodically down the calf, to the soles of Arthur’s feet, then back up to Arthur’s hands. When he finished there, he told Arthur to turn over, and started on the front.
The front was always better and yet worse at the same time. Worse, because Arthur was so unbearably ticklish. Better, because Merlin never failed to finish a massage the same way.
When the end was near this time, Arthur spread his legs and made room for Merlin’s body without needing to be told. He shivered as Merlin’s breath teased his skin, whimpered when playful licks of Merlin’s tongue made him yearn for more. He would force himself to hold on a few more minutes, endure a couple more wet kisses to the side of his cock before nudging Merlin’s calf impatiently with his foot. Only after Merlin had properly had his fun and drawn it out would he give in and take Arthur, slow and meaningful in his mouth.
Instantly, Arthur was on a cloud, floating above his petty problems of everyday life. His body was made of air and melted wax all at the same time. His cock, full and straining against the inside of Merlin’s cheek, was what kept sparks of pleasure shooting through his veins, kept his insides molten and electric. Merlin’s hands caressing him—the inside of his thigh, the cleft of his arse, up his hair-dusted torso—was what kept him from floating away entirely. It took the boundless pleasure that was seeping from him and was pinpointed wherever Merlin’s hands roamed.
Until, of course, Merlin sped up, pursed his lips tighter and sucked harder. His hollowed cheeks only made his angular cheekbones jut out more beautifully, and his plump lips became flushed and shiny with spit, cracked along the edges where they started to chap. Inside Merlin’s mouth was a hot, wet glove, a tongue that pressed itself flat against Arthur’s cock and licked the tip when it reached the top. Outside, was a young, yet wise, face, with piercing blue eyes that urged him to come, come—
All the pleasure kept in check by Merlin’s hands erupted in concentrated bursts from Arthur’s cock onto Merlin’s tongue. Arthur felt himself reach the peak of the climb then come slowly back down, his legs and arms trembling. Staring blearily at Merlin, he fully expected Merlin to pull off and spit out Arthur’s semen, as he’d done every time before. This time, Arthur watched in awe as Merlin very slowly, very purposefully licked his lips and swallowed.
One blink, then another, and Arthur’s mobile rang, the shrill tone cutting through the carefully constructed silence. Groaning, Arthur felt around on the floor for his trousers, then pulled out his phone. He groaned again when he saw the caller ID.
“Yes?” he answered.
“Arthur, you actually picked up! What a pleasant surprise,” Morgana sang.
“What is it? I’m busy.” In the corner of Arthur’s eye, Merlin was sitting up and getting off the bed.
“Alright, straight to the point then. Father is getting married.”
“Again?”
“Yes, again.”
“To whom?” Arthur swung his legs over the side of the bed and began to get dressed as Merlin left the room, allowing him privacy for his conversation.
“Some woman named...Oh, what was it? Catherine, perhaps. Or Catrina? Yes, I think that’s it. Catrina. Though I do like the name Catherine much—”
“When?”
“In a month. And don’t interrupt Arthur, it’s terribly impolite.”
Arthur rolled his eyes. “This wedding is taking place where all the others have, I presume?” He said the word wedding as if it were a disease.
“Naturally. And you are, just as naturally, expected to attend.”
“Of course I am.”
“With your boyfriend.”
Arthur frowned. “My what?”
“Your boyfriend,” Morgana repeated. “Father is very excited to meet him, especially considering he hasn’t seen you in the past five years.”
“It’s only been four years.”
“Nearly five, but it’s not like he’s counting. Anyways, when can I tell him to expect you?”
Arthur mentally swore. He’d completely forgotten having told his father and sister that he was in a relationship. At the time, it had been simply to get them off his back. He never really thought to have to prove the validity of his claim. He couldn’t explain that relationships—and all the emotional drama they entailed—just wasn’t his thing.
Neither could he say that he’d broken up with the imaginary boyfriend. Then he’d have to explain why, and his father would chide him for not being able to commit to anything. That, as usual, there was no permanent fixture in Arthur’s life which he could assign value to.
There was a soft crash in the kitchen, and a muffled curse. Merlin was making tea, no doubt. The beginnings of a plan took form in Arthur’s mind.
“How long do we have to stay?”
“Well, you know Father,” Morgana replied. “He’d like it if you arrived tomorrow morning and stayed until long after. But I managed to talk him into a week before and a day after. You’re welcome.”
Arthur did the quick calculation. That meant he had three weeks to prepare Merlin to meet his family. They’d stay a week, attend the godforsaken ceremony, and leave first thing the morning after. No one would be the wiser.
Arthur wondered if he could afford that much of Merlin’s time, or if Merlin would ever agree to it.
Sighing, Arthur committed himself to his course of action. “Alright, I’ll see you then.”
“Excellent. Can’t wait to see who you show up with.”
Arthur was not afraid of his sister, but he still waited until she hung up to say, “Go die in a hole.”
“Who’s going to die in a hole?” Merlin asked, walking back into the room with two cups of tea.
Arthur received one gladly and took a large sip that went smoothly down his throat before answering. “My sister.”
“Ah. Familial affection. ‘Tis the greatest.”
Normally, Arthur would join in and reply with something equally sarcastic, but he couldn’t find it in him now. Merlin seemed to notice as well.
“Something wrong?” he asked, sitting on the bed next to Arthur.
“My father’s getting married,” Arthur said simply. “I’m expected to go to the wedding. With a boyfriend.”
Merlin nodded in understanding. “Which you don’t have.”
“Exactly.” Taking another gulp of hot tea, Arthur gathered his courage to leap forward. “I need your help.”
Merlin’s eyes widened. “You want me to—”
“Pretend to be my boyfriend. Yes.”
“You may not know this about me, but I’m a terrible liar, and an even worse actor. There’s no way it’ll work.”
“It will. And it’s only for a week. Please, Merlin, I’ll pay you, you know I’m good for it.”
Merlin bit his lip. “I’d have to miss a week of classes.”
“I know, but...you’re smart, you’ll catch up. Right?” Arthur knew it was a low blow, but he had no other choice. He couldn’t think of anyone else he could ask besides Merlin. “Please? I trust you.”
Merlin sighed and gave Arthur a look that said he knew exactly what Arthur was doing, pulling the trust card. Still, Merlin’s eyes had that particular shine they got when he made up his mind about something. Arthur took hold of Merlin’s hand and pleaded once more, driving it home.
“Please?”
Merlin gave up. “Oh, fine. Fine! But the rate is exactly the same—”
“Of course.”
“And don’t even think about calling me some stupid pet name.”
“Never.”
“And you’re buying me a suit.”
“Oh God, obviously. If this is going to work, I’ll have to buy you a whole new wardrobe.”
“No. Absolutely not. I’m wearing my clothes, not dressing up as some posh, cardigan-wearing, private school student.” Merlin made a disgusted face just mentioning the word cardigan.
Giving Merlin a quick once-over, Arthur could agree he couldn’t see Merlin wearing anything but his own unique jeans and oversized jumper. His hair, however...
Reaching up to run his fingers through Merlin’s mop of black hair, Arthur found the texture surprisingly soft. Merlin jumped and looked at Arthur sideways but allowed the touch.
“You should cut your hair, though. It’s a bit...wild.”
Merlin raised an eyebrow. “Wild?”
“I mean, I happen to like it this way, but my father would take one look at you and think—What?” Arthur cut himself off when he saw the way Merlin was staring at him, biting back a smile. “What?”
Merlin grinned. “You like my hair wild?”
Arthur blushed. “I didn’t say that.” He took his hand away and put it in his lap.
“Yes you did. You said it looked wild and then you said you liked it, therefore—”
“Therefore, shut up, Merlin.” Arthur nudged him with his elbow. “Just get a haircut in three weeks, and wear your sodding clothes, but wear your best clothes.”
Arthur set his tea aside and finished getting dressed, ignoring Merlin’s snickering.
“How much do I owe you?” Arthur asked, tying his shoelaces.
“Seventy-five.” Merlin lay back, folding his hands behind his head.
Arthur quirked a brow. “That’s all?”
“The blow job was free,” Merlin said, smiling.
Arthur laughed and pulled the appropriate notes from his wallet. He laid them on the bed by Merlin’s feet. “See you in three weeks then.”
Merlin rolled his eyes. “Yeah right. You’ll be ringing me in a week, at the latest.”
“You calling me an addict?”
“Maybe.”
Arthur chuckled and shook his head. “G’bye Merlin. And get a damn haircut.”