Fanfiction: Rules for Roommates, modern au, WIP COMPLETE (11/11)
Title: Rules for Roommates - 11/11
Fandom: Merlin (Merlin/Arthur)
Rating: NC-17, oh so NC-17
Word count: 8k (COMPLETE at 43k in total)
Summary: Modern AU. Arthur works in publishing and is ashamed to tell anyone he's secretly editing erotica, and being bullied by one of his authors - the arrogant 'Lake Anders'. He's also just taken in a new roommate, the adorable Merlin Emrys, who is definitely Not His Type. Or is he?
Author notes: I don't know how this chapter just kept on growing but it did. Oh how it did. I had such fun writing this, thanks for sticking with me!
Previous chapters: CHAPTER ONE; CHAPTER TWO; CHAPTER THREE; CHAPTER FOUR; CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX; CHAPTER SEVEN; CHAPTER EIGHT;
CHAPTER NINE; CHAPTER TEN
'I am having the best week ever,' Merlin announced when Arthur got home on Tuesday night. He was wearing a pink apron covered with pictures of cupcakes and had some rather fetching dabs of flour on his face and in his hair. Arthur was bamboozled, given that he hadn't even had the chance to turn his keys in the lock before the door opened and Merlin appeared, looking slightly manic.
'Um, well done?' Arthur hazarded, ducking past where he loomed in the doorway, to kick off his coat and shoes.
'I have managed to make FOUR batches of cupcakes and they taste fucking brilliant!' Merlin bellowed.
Arthur leaned in, peered at him slightly. 'Are you high on sugar and colourings?' he questioned, suspiciously, noting how Merlin was sort of bouncing on the spot, vibrating almost.
'Yeah, probably,' Merlin smiled sweetly.
'And what's brought on this Delia-esque baking onslaught?' Arthur asked. 'Not that I'm complaining, you understand.'
'I'm having lunch with an, um, client on Thursday, and I thought I'd make her cupcakes.'
'Oh,' Arthur's mouth went dry. The 'client' was him, obviously. 'So you're meeting Cheryl Cole then are you? Ha. Ha.' His laughter sounded fake (the laughter of a liar he hissed at himself, angrily) but Merlin seemed to buy it.
'Yeah, fine, it's Cheryl Cole,' he shrugged. 'Because she so clearly looooves cake,' he drawled. 'Yip, eats cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cake, cake, cake, washed down with full fat coke and maybe some crisps and chips for savoury. I'm being sarcastic by the way,' he added, belatedly and entirely unnecessarily.
'Yeah, I got it,' Arthur said, shortly, pushing through into the kitchen.
'Oh right,' Merlin said, following him. 'Because you know, it was a pretty funny ol' joke so when you didn't laugh, I wondered...' he trailed off as he watched Arthur take in the bombsite that used to be their kitchen. 'I know, I know!' he yelled preemptively. 'I'll clean it up I swear!' He flung himself melodramatically in front of the breakfast bar which was covered in butter, chocolate and flour. 'Here, have a cake?' He physically shoved the nearest cake into Arthur's mouth as he let out a startled 'mmfp'.
'You are such a mucky pup,' Arthur said, around a mouthful of chocolate-fudge cake. He said it affably, though: it was hard to be mad when so much sugar was coursing around his bloodstream. Plus he felt incredibly guilty about what he was going to pull on Merlin on Thursday. Not guilty enough to not go through with it though. He'd thought about quietly telling Merlin but the idea of it made him want to throw up: he knew the only way he could go through with it was if he did it in a way like this. A situation where he couldn't back down and find some way to just... not tell him. To weasel out of it, which was all he kept on doing.
'I get bored, sometimes,' Merlin said. 'I try and rein in my love of baking but sometimes it just explodes in a shower of cream horns and tiramisu,' he shrugged, apologetically.
'You talk about it as if it's like you're addicted to crystal meth,' Arthur sniggered. 'Fuck this stuff is sweet. My teeth actually hurt.'
'Yeah,' Merlin smiled smugly. 'The icing is just sugar, fudge, milk and butter.'
'Glad to see all those episodes of 'Supersize vs Superskinny' you've watched have had an impact on your understanding of a balanced diet,' Arthur smirked.
'Dr Christian Jessen says everything is fine in moderation,' Merlin lectured.
'And this is moderation?' Arthur gestured around the bomb-site that had previously been their kitchen.
Merlin stifled a giggle before giving up and throwing back his head with laughter. Arthur gave in and laughed too, despite the pangs the messy kitchen gave him. 'I know, I'm such an idiot, I was only going to make one batch and then I went mad,' he gasped out between bouts of increasingly hysterical sounding laughter. 'I ended up running to the corner-shop four times for more eggs and sugar. The guy behind the till thinks I'm a nutter.'
Arthur couldn't help laughing with Merlin, found himself wanting to hug him really tightly and tickle him til he squirmed against him. And then he wanted to cover him in icing and lick it off. He blinked, perhaps the erotica he was editing was having an impact on his mental state?
'You are a plonker,' Arthur said affectionately, wiping some of the cocoa off Merlin's cheekbone and refusing to allow his fingers to linger there, no matter how much they wanted to do so.
'I'm just in such a good mood this week,' Merlin smiled. 'I feel like I've really turned a corner with the whole Percy thing, and that the world is full of, I don't know, 'sunshine, lollipops and rainbows'.' He did ridiculously exaggerated jazz hands.
'I'm glad,' Arthur said, gingerly pulling out a chair and inspecting it to insure it wasn't covered in cream. 'I hated seeing you so low. I went crazy when Gwen and I broke up, stopped eating, stalked around like a bear with a sore head, drank too much... every cliche in the book. I don't think it was all about her though. I think I tied it all up with what went on with my Dad, and leaving the firm and whatnot - didn't let myself grieve properly for what I'd gone through with Dad and then just lumped it all in with Gwen's rejection.' He worried at a cuticle. 'Bloody hell I've got introspective lately.' He smiled at Merlin, 'I'm glad you're moving on. Percy was never worthy of your tears. I never want to see you so sad again.'
'Nah, I'm swearing off men,' Merlin said. 'I think sex complicates things, you know?' He wrinkled his nose as he dabbed at his face with a cloth. 'I mean, because I'd never really had sex before when someone showed sexual interest in me it totally went to my head and I got way too hung up on him. The next guy I'm with, if there is one, will have to be very gentlemanly and wait.'
'Sure,' Arthur snorted. 'And where are you going to find this paragon of virtue? At a 'chastity belt' convention?'
'Fuck off Arthur,' Merlin flicked a decorative sugar ball at him, missing wildly. 'I'm just saying that I'm not going to let my loins overrule my head again.'
'Who calls them 'loins'?' Arthur asked. 'You're so Victorian.'
'And you're such a knob,' Merlin stuck his tongue out. He surveyed the mess of the kitchen properly and then sat down in the middle of the floor. 'I'm never going to get it clean. Never. I'll still be here in a week, vacuuming up baking powder.'
Arthur hid a grin, 'It won't take long. I would help, but I have very busy and important things to do.'
'Like..?' Merlin raised an eyebrow.
Arthur wanted to answer 'Like editing the latest chapter of porn you sent me you filthweasel' but settled on 'Very serious and highbrow editing work, too highbrow for the likes of you.' He stuck his tongue out. 'When I come down I expect this place to be spotless.'
'Or what?' Merlin challenged.
'Or you'll get the spanking you so richly deserve,' Arthur retorted sharply, turning away so Merlin couldn't see the flush staining his cheeks. Bloody erotica really had turned his head.
'Oi!' Arthur could hear Merlin's shocked laughter but he didn't turn round to face him, too embarrassed by what he'd just said. And anyway, he told himself, he was Merlin's landlord, he had to inflict discipline somehow or goodness knows what Merlin would get up to next.
Once he was in the confines of his own, blissfully tidy bedroom, he felt he could relax. Casually check his email. Casually note that Merlin, whilst high on sugar had sent him a new missive.
'Dear Arthur,
Well, this is it - the boys finally Do It. A lot. In varying gymnastic positions. I do so hope you enjoy it. Looking forward to lunch.
Yours,
Lake.'
Well well well. Wellity wellity wellity. So James was finally going to give in and break the final rule - not fucking his housemate.
Arthur took off his suit jacket, loosened his tie, and settled in to read. The boys were regularly giving each other blowjobs now, and handjobs, and engaging in frottage in the shower when they were both all soapy and slick. But having sex seemed to be where James drew the line. It was as if, in his head, this was where the invisible 'YOU ARE NOT STRAIGHT ARE YOU?' line was and he just couldn't cross it. Until one day, when Harry tied him up and sucked him off for nearly an hour, and then James said, 'please, please, I want you to fuck me.'
Well, Arthur thought, that was a turn-up for the books, and especially for Lake's books where the seemingly straight guy was always the fucker rather than the fuckee.
Harry carried on sucking James off and then started touching his arsehole gently, just rubbing the slick tip of his fingers over it until James was begging for his fingers inside him. He patiently spent ages introducing one finger, then another, then another, until James was moaning and pushing himself down onto them, screwing himself on Harry's hand. Then finally, Harry took pity on him, untied him and refused to let James roll over on to his hands and knees. 'You're not going to pretend we're not doing this,' he said, and pulled one of James's legs over his shoulder, pressed the head of his thick cock to James's arsehole and then slowly, oh so slowly, slid inside. He kissed James throughout, told him how beautiful he was like this, how good he felt, how much Harry wanted to come inside him, and Harry rubbed James's leaking erection until he came over both of their stomachs, until Harry pushed deeply into James and with a hoarse cry, came.
Arthur closed the email and lay on his stomach on the bed, well aware that he was probably denting the mattress with his erection.
People never expected Arthur to bottom. Because he was loud, and confident, and rich, and a little bit arrogant, they sort of presumed that he would always be the one to do the fucking. And sometimes he would - loved the feel of being fully encased inside someone else's body, loved the erotic thrill of the power, the feel of someone's body tightening around yours. But he also loved, to a much stronger degree perhaps, the feeling of being fucked. Of being on his hands and knees, someone behind him pushing into him, not being able to control it, or the sounds he made; begging for it, asking for it in the filthiest ways he could think of. It really got him, like a punch in the stomach, hit him hard, made him breathless, to see Merlin writing it down like this. To think of Merlin being the one to finger him, to stretch him out, and then make Arthur go boneless with lust beneath him whilst he fucked him into the bed.
It was probably Gwaine who was to blame for it (Gwaine was to blame for most things after all) for spending so many dirty hours with Arthur, making him do things he'd never even thought of before, that he'd never imagined he would end up loving. Like wanking over Arthur's chest, or fucking Arthur's mouth, and fucking him bent over in the bathroom so he could watch them both in the mirror. Gwaine was hardly a selfless lover, but he seemed to take pride in stretching Arthur's sexual horizons so he was hardly recognisable from the guy who would touch a girl for a few minutes just as a precursor to fucking her. Now he could happily spend an hour just going down on someone - guy or girl - and have that as the main act itself rather than the starter before the main course of sex. He wondered how it was possible that Merlin was writing such dirty things yet was adamant that he wasn't going to have sex for ages, or get involved with someone. It seemed ridiculous to Arthur that here they both were, pining for the other, and yet pretending to the outside world that they were 'just mates' and they were fine with it.
His phone beeped, 'Spanking averted - sparkling clean xx'. He smiled, his stomach knotted up. What he felt for Merlin was so much stronger than just sex though. He was. He was. He was a little bit in love with him, he thought finally, bravely as he read the next text 'Oi, text me back... you can spank me if you must?!'
'You kinky fuck' he tapped out. 'I am busy working', he took a photo of himself wearing glasses (clear frames) and pretending to puzzle over a manuscript.
'Don't pretend Arthur - we all know you can barely read. I've found my niche: 50s housewife.' Merlin had taken a photo of himself suggestively licking a spoon, still wearing that apron.
Arthur laughed, hard, and went downstairs to join him.
***
Arthur took extra care with his clothes on Thursday. First his lucky boxers, then his lucky socks, followed by Merlin's favourite suit and tie. Even his cuff-links were lucky - he'd worn them to his first publishing job interview and they'd obviously worked miracles then given that he had little to no experience of, nor interest in, erotica and romance publishing at that point.
A few times the previous couple of days he'd considered calling the whole thing off. Just doing what Leon said, sitting down with Merlin and saying, 'Look, I've found something out...' but he knew what would happen if he did that. Merlin would be awkward, he'd be awkward, it would all be bleeding awkward. Whereas this way? Well, he had the element of surprise on his side for one and for two, he'd actually go through with it rather than choking every time he tried to tell Merlin the truth.
He sleepwalked through his morning meetings, signing off jackets willy nilly and clearing his inbox with a lot of one-liner emails.
'You seem distracted today?' Gaius had appeared as if from nowhere, clad in a white suit.
'Just busy,' Arthur said, huffing out a breath of air in an exaggerated fashion. 'You know, really getting to grips with the list. Nice suit, by the way.'
Gaius frowned at it, as if just noticing it, 'You don't think it's a bit too white do you?'
'Not at all. Just white enough,' Arthur lied. He looked like Colonel Sanders. Or a KKK member, sans hood.
'It hasn't gone unnoticed how hard you've been working on the erotica,' Gaius said thoughtfully. 'Most people think they're too good for it, but you... well, you've really taken it in your stride.'
'Um, yes,' Arthur said, awkwardly. 'I'm actually taking one of the authors out for lunch - Lake Anders?'
'Oh yes,' Gaius smiled fondly. 'Lovely Lake. He's actually the son of my niece's neighbour. Such a sweet boy. Mind like a sewer,' he grimaced, 'but very sweet in person. You'll like him. He's single you know.'
'No. No I didn't,' Arthur said, wondering where this conversation was going and praying for it to end.
'Not that I'd encourage fraternisation between editor and author you understand but... he does deserve a nice young man. I hope you're taking him somewhere delicious?'
'Um, yeah, Orso,' Arthur said, feeling like this was a trick question.
'Good, nice food there. Well,' he patted Arthur on the shoulder, 'enjoy your lunch, and don't worry too much about coming back this afternoon. You deserve a rest.'
Arthur squinted suspiciously over his shoulder at Gaius's retreating form. Maybe he was stoned? Or drunk? Or stoned and drunk? He shrugged: he had bigger fish to fry. He logged off his computer and left the office, his hands shaking slightly as he rehearsed what he was going to say. 'Merlin! What are you doing here?' or 'It's me, Arthur Stuart, your editor' or 'Please let's do the things that Harry and James do' or even 'Cricket stumps? You sick bastard'. No, not the latter, definitely not the latter. His palms were sweaty and he surreptitiously wiped them on his suit trousers. He wondered idly how Gaius coped with sweat in his white suit then shook his head violently at the image, disturbing a group of schoolchildren whose teacher eyeballed him, instructing them to 'keep to their pairs, move along children, many strange people in London.'
He got there five minutes early and was shown to his seat by the waiter. 'Some wine whilst you wait?'
'Um, yes, please, large glass of pinot grigio please.' He fought down the urge to say 'STAT'.
He took a large gulp then another. He'd deliberately positioned himself so his back was to the restaurant so he couldn't spend the time craning his neck desperately, looking for Merlin.
Then, 'Yes, Mr Anders, your dining companion is already here.' One more gulp for luck and, there, in a nice suit, his hair brushed, was Merlin, clutching a tupperware full of cupcakes.
'Arthur?' he said. He'd gone pale. Paler than normal even, which was pretty fucking vampiric at the best of times. 'Arthur, what are you..?'
'Merlin. Um.' Arthur's voice came out as a strangled squeak, as if his voice was breaking for the first time. 'I'm, um, I'm, Arthur Stuart. It was my Mum's maiden name so... um.' His speech stuttered to a halt as Merlin continued to loom over the table.
Merlin sat down heavily, grabbed the wine glass, no time for decorum, and gulped it down. 'You're my editor? Well, Lake's editor.'
'Yes, apparently,' Arthur said, unable to look away from Merlin's horrified stare.
'And you knew this?'
Arthur considered trying to make a joke like 'yeah, and you didn't?' but couldn't quite get the words out. 'Yes. Not for long. Since your birthday. Nimueh. She told me. And I didn't know how to tell you.'
'So you decided doing it in a public forum was the best way,' Merlin's voice was dangerously quiet. 'The best way to make me feel humiliated and ashamed.'
'I didn't know you'd feel humiliated and ashamed,' Arthur bleated. 'Honestly. You're a brilliant writer and I think Rules for Roommates is fucking amazing. I think you're so talented and-'
'You've read Rules for Roommates,' Merlin said it as a statement rather than a question.
'Yes,' Arthur said, wishing desperately for the waiter to come over and interrupted.
'And I bet you thought it was about you, didn't you?' Merlin's tone was frightening. His face - normally so open - was locked down, tight.
Arthur swallowed.
'I bet you had a brilliant time laughing at me, reading bits out loud, making fun of me... I can't believe you thought it was okay to keep it from me.' Merlin's arms were folded, his expression terrifying.
'No, I-' Arthur stumbled. Then he took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders and did the bravest thing he'd ever done. With or without Jagerbombs. 'I hoped it was about me,' he said softly. 'I hoped more than I've ever hoped before that you wanted me the way I wanted you. The way I want you,' he corrected himself.
There was silence for a while, Arthur's desperate hands shredded a receipt he found in his pocket.
'The way you want me?' Merlin said, quietly.
'Yes,' Arthur said, in a small voice. He chanced a look up at Merlin, but his expression was still terrifying. 'I have wanted you since the moment I first met you. I've never felt this way about anyone before. Ever.'
'I'm hardly your usual type,' Merlin said, flippantly.
'No, perhaps not, but every moment I spend with you getting to know you, and that seems less and less important.' He sighed, geared himself up to say 'I have never desired someone the way I desire you.' But he heard a crash, Merlin had thrown his chair back and stormed out.
Arthur sat there blinking. What had he said, what had he done? His hands were shaking. The waiter appeared, as if by magic, 'More wine, sir?'
'Yes,' Arthur said. 'Please. And, and,' he found himself ordering a huge bowl of pasta as well as the wine. He got his phone out, texted Leon 'Merlin stormed out. Am eating my feelings.'
'Where are you, am coming mate.'
'Orso. Hurry.'
He felt like putting his head on the table and having a good old cry. What had he said? What had he said?
'What did you say?' it was Leon, crumpled and sweating slightly. 'I was just round the corner, made up an emergency. Though looking at the state of you I think this qualifies as an emergency to be honest. What the fuck happened?'
Arthur's lower lip quivered. 'Well, he came in, I told him, he drank a load of wine, he said I'd probably been laughing at him all along... and then I said how much I wanted him.'
'Okay...'
'And then he made some comment about him not being my usual type, and I said something like the more I got to know him the less that mattered.'
'Aha,' Leon said. He beckoned the waiter over and ordered some bread, and pasta, and wine.
'What 'aha'? Why 'aha'?' Arthur's head snapped up.
Leon looked rueful. 'So his previous boyfriend made him feel shit about his appearance and made comments about being won over by his personality, and then you come along and say essentially that his looks aren't up to much but you can overlook them for his personality.'
'That's not what I said!' Arthur said.
'I know, but that's what he'll have heard. He feels embarrassed, and raw, and like he's repeating the mistakes of his past all over again.' Leon handed him some flatbread, 'Eat this, it'll help.'
Arthur took it, glowering, 'Are you going to say 'I told you so'?'
'Nope,' Leon said. 'Because I'd have loved to have been wrong, mate, and you actually fucked it up in a way that hadn't even occurred to me. But you didn't mean to, and I feel bad for you...'
'That was just a longer way of saying 'I told you so',' Arthur said, moodily. 'The crazy thing is I fancy the pants off him. Just him being near me makes me 14 years old again with inopportune erections.'
'Nice,' Leon swilled his wine around and took a mouthful. 'He doesn't know that though, does he? Probably thinks you've been reading his erotica about the two of you and thinking 'oh, poor Merlin, isn't he sweet, how embarrassing this is, seeing a sexless eunuch like him write porn' rather than wanking over it to the degree there's nearly been a national Kleenex shortage.'
'I'm going to call him,' Arthur said. 'I have to.' The phone rang to voicemail and he left a really stuttering and awkward message where he said, 'I think you're gorgeous and sexy and I want to be with you, no matter what.'
'Nice,' Leon said.
'Oh fuck off, this is really difficult for me.'
'Yeah, I know, that's why I'm here. Now come on, eat something.' Leon smiled his thanks as the waiter deposited two steaming plates of pasta.
'Ugh, why am I such an idiot?' Arthur asked.
'Because sadly your mother's genes couldn't override your father's enough,' Leon said, thoughtfully, twirling pasta around his fork.
'I've never fallen in love before, and I don't think I'll bother again if this is how it ends up,' he stated melodramatically.
'Look, just give Merlin some time, alright? Talk to him tonight, properly. Apologise, say you'll give him space until he knows what he wants. He'll come round. He obviously likes you too.'
'Maybe,' Arthur sighed, picking at the mussels dotted around his plate.
'It'll be alright,' Leon said, solemnly, covering Arthur's hand with his own. And because it was Leon, and Leon was always right, Arthur sighed and nodded, and tried to believe him.
***
Merlin wouldn't come out of his room that night, no matter that Arthur sat outside it for an uncomfortably long time.
'I'm so sorry, Merlin... please, talk to me,' he had called, plaintively, but his response had just been silence. 'I never meant to embarrass you,' he insisted. 'I am just such a cock, I do it without even realising.'
Merlin's response to that had been, 'Go away!' and then the sound of something large hitting the door. Something like a shoe, or a book.
'Fine, I'll go away, for now...' Arthur added ominously. He went down to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of wine. He knew that drinking when depressed was a very bad idea, but right now he just didn't care. He felt terrible, and if what it took was a tenner's worth of white wine to take the edge off, then that was what he was going to have to resort to doing.
It was two glasses and a Fleetwood Mac album later that Arthur came up with his master-plan. So Merlin was embarrassed? Felt exposed? Felt like Arthur didn't fancy him? Well fuck that - Arthur knew just what to do.
He got his laptop out and booted it up. Clicked on the document entitled 'Rules for Roommates' and gave himself a quick refresher on the last chapter.
There, fine, he could do this. He could so do this.
Ten minutes later he was still staring at a blank screen. How come he had edited and read porn every day for years but he couldn't do it? He took a sip of wine.
'James had had enough with the rules. He'd had enough of coming up with reasons not to let Harry touch him.' There, that was good wasn't it.
'Something inside of him had broken when Harry had fucked him. It was like the last vestiges of his will-power had gone. All he could think about was Harry's face, his blue eyes, his long fingers - about how soft his skin was, how he just wanted to touch him all the time.' Ha, Arthur thought, I could totally do this for a living.
He continued on in this way for a while, skirting around the sex but not quite getting to it, before he took a deep breath and steeled himself.
'James leaned in and caught Harry's lips in a soft kiss. 'Let me make you come,' he said, intently. 'You always give me so much pleasure, let me just touch you for a while.''
Ha, Arthur thought - erotic and highlighting what a selfless lover he was, this was good.
The blowjob scene lasted a long time. Arthur kept getting a bit turned on and stopping, just thinking about going down on Merlin, and would then snap himself out of it, force himself to concentrate. 'Erotica is an art-form, Pendragon,' he told himself.
The scene ended with Harry (aka Merlin) coming down James's (Arthur's throat) and them kissing, before James said, 'I love you, and I don't want to hide who I am any more.'
There, Arthur thought smugly, a cliffhanger. Just what the book needed to spice it up a bit. He attached it to an email and sent the message to Lake 'Please read this. I'm sorry. I care about you so much and even if you didn't have an amazing personality I'd still want to bone you every which way - you're fucking gorgeous and I could write entire sonnets to your wrists. Please please please forgive me. I've never been in love before and it makes me stupid(er). I've spent months pining for you, and months turned on as fuck over what you've been writing but you were with Percy, and then you said you wanted to be on your own and I can't bear to live with you and not be able to hold you, or kiss you, or tell you every day how amazing you are. I'm sorry. Arthur.'
He then collapsed into bed, and slept the sleep of the drunk.
***
The next morning Arthur slept through his alarm three times. When he finally woke up he had that slow, creeping paranoia that comes from having drunk too much. 'What did I do? What did I do?' he muttered to himself, falling out of bed with a thump and running to the shower.
It was only when he'd turned the shower on and stepped in that he remembered, with the sudden horror of clarity, exactly what he had done the day before. Told Merlin how he felt, got drunk, written Merlin porn.
Oh no. No no no. He squeezed his eyes shut in a 'hear no evil, see no evil' type way, but when he opened them the facts of the matter had not changed a bit. He had written erotica and sent it to his housemate, who was also his author. Fuck. A sackable offence? Probably.
He dressed as quickly and quietly as possible and practically sprinted out of the door, desperate to avoid Merlin. Oh why oh why was he such an idiot, he wondered afresh.
His phone beeped, 'Feeling better today? Leon.'
He couldn't face replying and shoved it back in his pocket. He spent the tube journey deep in a spiral of paranoia. He was convinced everyone was staring at him. He was worried he had toothpaste round his mouth, then worried that he hadn't done his flies up, or was wearing odd shoes. Finally, he was worried that he'd accidentally sent the erotica to his entire address book.
As soon as he had signal back when he was off the tube he checked his sent items on his iPhone. At least he'd just sent it to Lake. That was something.
He made it through the morning without being sick or really having to talk to anyone, and had just started to relax when he caught sight of his boss at about 4pm. Gaius was wearing a red suit today (seriously, what was this office turning into?) and made a bee-line for Arthur. 'How was my little Lake then? Heh, 'litle Lake', I should just call him 'puddle' shouldn't I? Or estuary.'
'Um fine, fine,' Arthur lied. 'Really pleased with how the books are going and he's keen to re-contract.'
'Oh you are so good,' Gaius smiled.
'Thanks,' Arthur said, feeling slightly sick.
'Oh gosh, speak of the devil,' Gaius gestured at Arthur's email. 'He's emailed you. I'll leave you to it then,' and he winked at Arthur, before sauntering off.
Arthur went from feeling 'slightly' sick to feeling as sick as he had the first time he'd gone to Alton Towers and insisted on riding Oblivion four times in a row, straight after lunch. He opened the email with his eyes closed, then opened first one, then the other.
'Dear Arthur,
Thank you for this missive. Apart from a few uses of 'dock' where I believe you meant 'dick' and the unfortunate use of the word 'viscous' to describe the texture of ejaculate, I found this moving.
Let's talk later.
Lake.'
Man alive. That was rather unexpected. Maybe it had been the claim of writing sonnets to Merlin's wrists that had done it? But whatever it was, he was suddenly rather looking forward to the evening rather than greeting it with sick dread. He texted Leon, 'All okay, I think. Thanks for being such a good mate.'
***
He had bought Merlin flowers. And chocolate. And champagne. He'd drawn the line at one of those cheesy 'Me To You' teddy-bears but had briefly considered it in a fit of madness.
He struggled to open the door and was surprised when it was flung open from the other side by Merlin, looking adorable as ever in a pair of jeans and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up. 'Got my wrists out,' Merlin said with a leer. 'In case you wanted to write any poetry.'
Arthur flushed bright red, 'I'm so embarrassed.'
Merlin went pale, 'You did mean it though? It wasn't just because you were drunk? Oh fuck, have I made a fool of myself again.' He smacked himself hard on the forehead.
'Fucking hell, no! I meant every word of it, apart from 'viscous' maybe, that was a bit weird. I just feel so exposed.'
'Think how I felt, then,' Merlin said. 'Oh, wow, are these for me?' He practically swooned at the presents. 'Arthur!'
'Yes, they're sorry presents. And 'please can we start over' presents.'
Merlin embraced the chocolates, champagne and flowers in a way which made Arthur rethink his decision not to buy the teddy bear. 'I've made dinner, by the way.'
'So, um, what did you think about... what I wrote.' Arthur trailed behind him to the kitchen, feeling wrong-footed but hopeful.
'Well, from a professional standpoint you needed to do more to differentiate between James and Harry as all those 'hims' get confusing.' He flashed a wicked grin at Arthur as he went back to stirring, leaving him awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. 'But from a personal viewpoint I thought it was one of the most romantic things anyone has ever done from me. And, um,' he busied himself over the stove. 'I feel the same.'
'About my wrists?' Arthur said stupidly.
'No,' Merlin laughed. 'You have very average wrists. But about you in general. I, um, might be a bit in love with you too.'
'Really? But, but, but Percy!'
'I felt very conflicted about him,' Merlin said. 'And I thought you'd never look at someone like me. Sometimes you said things that made me think otherwise, but most of the time I thought you just looked on me as a very good mate. Like Leon or someone. And then there was Gwaine.'
'Gwaine was supposed to make me forget about you,' Arthur said. He came up behind Merlin and rested his head between his shoulder blades, let his hands encircle his waist.
'I won't stir this very well if you keep doing that,' Merlin said, relaxing against him.
'I don't mind,' Arthur said. 'I'd never eat again if it meant I could touch you whenever I wanted.'
Merlin laughed, 'You really have been reading too many romance novels.'
'No, I've just never been in love before.' It was easier to say when his face was buried in Merlin's shirt, and he was inhaling him.
'Right, off,' Merlin said. 'We are going to eat dinner and talk like civilised adults.'
'I don't want to,' Arthur said, but reluctantly he moved away, greedily watching Merlin rather than the food for once in his life.
'So,' Merlin said. 'We need to talk about us. No more secrets, no more misunderstandings and farce, alright?'
'Alright,' Arthur said, tucking in to his stir-fry with gusto. 'So I edit erotica and romance for a living. And I thought you were a right pain in the arse.'
Merlin sniffed, huffily, 'I prefer the term 'efficient' or 'business-like'.'
'Nah,' Arthur disagreed. 'You were difficult and time-consuming. And really, really filthy.'
Merlin blushed, 'Yes, about that...'
'... You left a lot out when you told me about your schooldays, is all I can imagine,' Arthur continued. 'Far less homework and far more whipping.'
'I have a vivid imagination,' Merlin said. 'I like writing erotica. And it wasn't all lies, I do ghost celebrity autobiographies and whatnot too. Just, 99% of it is porny porn.'
'Really porny porn,' Arthur said. 'Honestly, I was so close to having you arrested a few times. 'What kind of sick mind dreams up tails that end in butt-plugs?' I asked myself. Never dreaming I was living with such a deviant.'
'Shut up shut up this is so embarrassing!' Merlin chanted.
'But Rules for Roommates was different,' Arthur said. 'I'd never been turned on by something an author wrote until then. I used to get erections at work and everything.'
'Fuck off,' Merlin smiled.
'Yep, I did. And I'd hit refresh approximately twenty times a night waiting for the next chapter. That combined with the sexual tension of being around you was an absolute killer. It's a wonder I got any work done.'
Merlin was a lovely pinkish shade. 'So you really do fancy me then?'
'Oh yes,' Arthur said. 'And when I found out Lake was you... well, I couldn't help casting us in the roles, lying there wanking each night, imagining you coming in and catching me... joining in.'
Merlin swallowed, pushed his chair back, and came to stand over Arthur. 'I don't think I want to eat any more.'
'No,' Arthur agreed, pulling Merlin onto his lap. 'Please may I kiss you?'
'Yes. Please,' Merlin said, with emphasis.
Arthur kissed his chest and his throat, where the pleasing flush had migrated, finally meeting Merlin's lips. They kissed slowly, very sweetly, and it reminded Arthur of snogging at school. Merlin's tongue shyly stroked against his and then he seemingly grew in confidence and kissed Arthur harder, teeth grazing his bottom lip, sucking his tongue into his mouth.
'You're so fit,' Arthur whispered.
Merlin's answer was to slide so he was straddling Arthur's lap, his erection pressed against Arthur's, and rub against him. They kissed like that for ages, in that teenaged way, slowly pushing against each other all the while. 'Do you want to come up to my bedroom?' Arthur whispered against his lips.
'Very much,' Merlin said.
They lay on Arthur's bed, Merlin's leg thrown over his hip, his thumb stroking circles over Arthur's hipbone, and then Arthur started unbuttoning Merlin's shirt. Kissing every patch of skin he uncovered. 'You are so lovely,' he kissed his way down to Merlin's stomach, stopping to unbutton his jeans. 'I intend to keep you in bed for as long as humanly possible.'
Merlin giggled, breathlessly, impatiently tugging on Arthur's clothes. 'Come on, off.' Arthur stopped undressing Merlin only to give himself a chance to take everything off, eager to get back to kissing him as soon as possible. 'I thought we were going to talk like grown-ups?' Arthur teased, as he pulled his trousers off.
'This is how grown-ups talk,' Merlin said. 'Well, some grown-ups. The ones in porn, probably. Basically, I am in love with you and you are in love with me, and we should be a couple. Even if it is soon. It feels right,' he babbled, 'and anyway the past few months have basically been foreplay every day and I just have to feel you naked or I'll die.' He paused for breath then, 'Fuck, you're gorgeous.' He looked long and hard at Arthur, from his face to his chest, spending rather a long while staring at his erection which seemed to throb even harder under his gaze. Arthur fought the urge to cover himself with his hands. Finally, Merlin pulled Arthur down on top of him, rubbed his erection sluttishly against Arthur's until he moaned into his mouth. 'You feel so good against me,' he said. 'Fuck, you're so hard.'
'Merlin,' Arthur said, stupidly. 'Merlin, Merlin.' He rolled them over until Merlin was on top of him. 'Sit up, I want to look at you.'
Merlin hung his head, bashful, then sat up, wrapped a hand around both of their erections and slid them together inexpertly. Arthur was leaking pre-come everywhere, sliding against Merlin's dick. Merlin's dick was longer than his, the head rosy red, wet as anything, and Arthur added his own hand to the mix, rubbing the head of his dick against Merlin's.
'I want to suck you,' Merlin said.
'But I thought you didn't like blowjobs,' Arthur said then, 'fuck, not that I want to put you off.'
Merlin lay next to him, loosely touching himself, and began to lick the head, sliding the flat of his tongue over the dripping slit, tonguing the underside then finally, finally allowing it all into his mouth. Sucking hard, 'Fuck,' Arthur's hands skated over Merlin's head and settled on his shoulders.
Merlin pushed himself up, let one hand rest round the base of Arthur's dick, tossing him off slowly, whilst he let the head fuck his mouth. Arthur was painfully aroused. Merlin moaned around it, pulled off to say, 'It feels good. The sounds you make. I'm so hard.' Then he bent back to it, skittering his tongue round the edges of the head of Arthur's dick, teasing him.
'Please will you fuck me,' Arthur said, finally. 'I want you inside me so much.'
Merlin pulled off abruptly, looked nervously up at him. 'I've never done that before.' But he let his fingers rest briefly against Arthur's arsehole, just circling.
'It doesn't matter, I just want you to fuck me so much. Your fingers, fuck,' he pulled Merlin forward and kissed his swollen mouth again and again. He was pretty impressed at his multi-tasking that he managed to get lube out whilst kissing, but he handed it to Merlin alright. Merlin looked at him through the tangle of his fringe. 'You sure?'
'Yes, yes.'
Merlin pressed a sweet, hot kiss against the head of Arthur's dick and then knelt next to him. Even watching him slick his fingers up felt like it was too much to bear: he had to look away. He let his fingers brush the hole, circling slowly, til Arthur pushed against him. 'Do it, please,' and then he slid one, long finger in slowly, right down to the knuckle. Arthur gasped, put his heels on the bed, opened his legs. His dick was hard and heavy between them. Merlin looked at him in wonder. 'More?'
'More,' he arched as Merlin added a second, pushing them slowly in and out, oh so slowly, as if he was afraid that Arthur would break at any moment. 'More, please.'
He looked at Merlin's long, thick cock, thought about how it would feel, the burn of it inside him, the noises Merlin would make. 'I'm going to make it feel so good for you,' Arthur promised, moaning, rolling his hips.
'I believe you,' Merlin said, seriously. He reached for Arthur's dick with his free hand, stroked in time with his fingers thrusting inside Arthur's body. Arthur closed his eyes, let his head loll back on the pillow, all he could do was feel.
Merlin put the condom on with shaking hands, let Arthur rub more lube onto him, pushing into his hand, fucking it. 'Are you ready?'
Arthur felt the blunt pressure of the head of Merlin's dick. 'Yes, yes,' he pushed against him. Merlin pushed slowly, and Arthur felt his body open for him, felt him rock his way in in increments, never enough, it would never be enough. Arthur's eyes found Merlin's, 'Come on, fuck me,' he begged, pushing against him, 'I want to come around your dick.'
Merlin moaned, thrust until he was fully inside Arthur and then stopped. 'Fuck, you're so tight. It feels amazing.'
'You feel so good,' Arthur breathed. 'Come on, do it, I want it so much.'
Merlin's hair was hanging in his eyes but he didn't take them off Arthur - off his eyes, his mouth - the whole time. He started to thrust in earnest and Arthur reveled in the feel of it, how full he was, how good Merlin looked over him. He rubbed his erection. 'Merlin, I'm so hard, you've made me so hard. My dick's leaking with it, I have to come, I can't not come.' He couldn't stop speaking, had never been so hard before, never, his dick was like iron, wet and messy, sliding against their stomachs as Merlin thrust faster and faster. 'I'm going to come, fuck, fuck, Merlin,' he muttered nonsense as he thrust into his own hand, felt his orgasm hit him like a rush, spurting over both of them, his breathing loud and harsh.
Merlin didn't say anything, much, just moved faster and faster and with one, bitten off, 'Fuck' he buried himself inside Arthur as Arthur revelled in the feel of his dick pulsing inside him. Merlin was sweaty as he rested his head against Arthur's but he didn't mind, kissed him, open mouthed and sloppy, tongues everywhere.
'Fuck,' Merlin said again, pulling out, tying a neat knot in the end of the condom and chucking it at the bin before slumping down next to Arthur, his head on his chest. He smiled, suddenly.
'What, Merlin?'
'I never have sex on the first date,' he said. 'It's a rule of mine.'
'Ah well,' Arthur grinned, 'in for a penny,' and he pulled Merlin up and to him and kissed him again and again. 'Rules were made to be broken after all.'
-- THE END
Fandom: Merlin (Merlin/Arthur)
Rating: NC-17, oh so NC-17
Word count: 8k (COMPLETE at 43k in total)
Summary: Modern AU. Arthur works in publishing and is ashamed to tell anyone he's secretly editing erotica, and being bullied by one of his authors - the arrogant 'Lake Anders'. He's also just taken in a new roommate, the adorable Merlin Emrys, who is definitely Not His Type. Or is he?
Author notes: I don't know how this chapter just kept on growing but it did. Oh how it did. I had such fun writing this, thanks for sticking with me!
Previous chapters: CHAPTER ONE; CHAPTER TWO; CHAPTER THREE; CHAPTER FOUR; CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX; CHAPTER SEVEN; CHAPTER EIGHT;
CHAPTER NINE; CHAPTER TEN
'I am having the best week ever,' Merlin announced when Arthur got home on Tuesday night. He was wearing a pink apron covered with pictures of cupcakes and had some rather fetching dabs of flour on his face and in his hair. Arthur was bamboozled, given that he hadn't even had the chance to turn his keys in the lock before the door opened and Merlin appeared, looking slightly manic.
'Um, well done?' Arthur hazarded, ducking past where he loomed in the doorway, to kick off his coat and shoes.
'I have managed to make FOUR batches of cupcakes and they taste fucking brilliant!' Merlin bellowed.
Arthur leaned in, peered at him slightly. 'Are you high on sugar and colourings?' he questioned, suspiciously, noting how Merlin was sort of bouncing on the spot, vibrating almost.
'Yeah, probably,' Merlin smiled sweetly.
'And what's brought on this Delia-esque baking onslaught?' Arthur asked. 'Not that I'm complaining, you understand.'
'I'm having lunch with an, um, client on Thursday, and I thought I'd make her cupcakes.'
'Oh,' Arthur's mouth went dry. The 'client' was him, obviously. 'So you're meeting Cheryl Cole then are you? Ha. Ha.' His laughter sounded fake (the laughter of a liar he hissed at himself, angrily) but Merlin seemed to buy it.
'Yeah, fine, it's Cheryl Cole,' he shrugged. 'Because she so clearly looooves cake,' he drawled. 'Yip, eats cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cake, cake, cake, washed down with full fat coke and maybe some crisps and chips for savoury. I'm being sarcastic by the way,' he added, belatedly and entirely unnecessarily.
'Yeah, I got it,' Arthur said, shortly, pushing through into the kitchen.
'Oh right,' Merlin said, following him. 'Because you know, it was a pretty funny ol' joke so when you didn't laugh, I wondered...' he trailed off as he watched Arthur take in the bombsite that used to be their kitchen. 'I know, I know!' he yelled preemptively. 'I'll clean it up I swear!' He flung himself melodramatically in front of the breakfast bar which was covered in butter, chocolate and flour. 'Here, have a cake?' He physically shoved the nearest cake into Arthur's mouth as he let out a startled 'mmfp'.
'You are such a mucky pup,' Arthur said, around a mouthful of chocolate-fudge cake. He said it affably, though: it was hard to be mad when so much sugar was coursing around his bloodstream. Plus he felt incredibly guilty about what he was going to pull on Merlin on Thursday. Not guilty enough to not go through with it though. He'd thought about quietly telling Merlin but the idea of it made him want to throw up: he knew the only way he could go through with it was if he did it in a way like this. A situation where he couldn't back down and find some way to just... not tell him. To weasel out of it, which was all he kept on doing.
'I get bored, sometimes,' Merlin said. 'I try and rein in my love of baking but sometimes it just explodes in a shower of cream horns and tiramisu,' he shrugged, apologetically.
'You talk about it as if it's like you're addicted to crystal meth,' Arthur sniggered. 'Fuck this stuff is sweet. My teeth actually hurt.'
'Yeah,' Merlin smiled smugly. 'The icing is just sugar, fudge, milk and butter.'
'Glad to see all those episodes of 'Supersize vs Superskinny' you've watched have had an impact on your understanding of a balanced diet,' Arthur smirked.
'Dr Christian Jessen says everything is fine in moderation,' Merlin lectured.
'And this is moderation?' Arthur gestured around the bomb-site that had previously been their kitchen.
Merlin stifled a giggle before giving up and throwing back his head with laughter. Arthur gave in and laughed too, despite the pangs the messy kitchen gave him. 'I know, I'm such an idiot, I was only going to make one batch and then I went mad,' he gasped out between bouts of increasingly hysterical sounding laughter. 'I ended up running to the corner-shop four times for more eggs and sugar. The guy behind the till thinks I'm a nutter.'
Arthur couldn't help laughing with Merlin, found himself wanting to hug him really tightly and tickle him til he squirmed against him. And then he wanted to cover him in icing and lick it off. He blinked, perhaps the erotica he was editing was having an impact on his mental state?
'You are a plonker,' Arthur said affectionately, wiping some of the cocoa off Merlin's cheekbone and refusing to allow his fingers to linger there, no matter how much they wanted to do so.
'I'm just in such a good mood this week,' Merlin smiled. 'I feel like I've really turned a corner with the whole Percy thing, and that the world is full of, I don't know, 'sunshine, lollipops and rainbows'.' He did ridiculously exaggerated jazz hands.
'I'm glad,' Arthur said, gingerly pulling out a chair and inspecting it to insure it wasn't covered in cream. 'I hated seeing you so low. I went crazy when Gwen and I broke up, stopped eating, stalked around like a bear with a sore head, drank too much... every cliche in the book. I don't think it was all about her though. I think I tied it all up with what went on with my Dad, and leaving the firm and whatnot - didn't let myself grieve properly for what I'd gone through with Dad and then just lumped it all in with Gwen's rejection.' He worried at a cuticle. 'Bloody hell I've got introspective lately.' He smiled at Merlin, 'I'm glad you're moving on. Percy was never worthy of your tears. I never want to see you so sad again.'
'Nah, I'm swearing off men,' Merlin said. 'I think sex complicates things, you know?' He wrinkled his nose as he dabbed at his face with a cloth. 'I mean, because I'd never really had sex before when someone showed sexual interest in me it totally went to my head and I got way too hung up on him. The next guy I'm with, if there is one, will have to be very gentlemanly and wait.'
'Sure,' Arthur snorted. 'And where are you going to find this paragon of virtue? At a 'chastity belt' convention?'
'Fuck off Arthur,' Merlin flicked a decorative sugar ball at him, missing wildly. 'I'm just saying that I'm not going to let my loins overrule my head again.'
'Who calls them 'loins'?' Arthur asked. 'You're so Victorian.'
'And you're such a knob,' Merlin stuck his tongue out. He surveyed the mess of the kitchen properly and then sat down in the middle of the floor. 'I'm never going to get it clean. Never. I'll still be here in a week, vacuuming up baking powder.'
Arthur hid a grin, 'It won't take long. I would help, but I have very busy and important things to do.'
'Like..?' Merlin raised an eyebrow.
Arthur wanted to answer 'Like editing the latest chapter of porn you sent me you filthweasel' but settled on 'Very serious and highbrow editing work, too highbrow for the likes of you.' He stuck his tongue out. 'When I come down I expect this place to be spotless.'
'Or what?' Merlin challenged.
'Or you'll get the spanking you so richly deserve,' Arthur retorted sharply, turning away so Merlin couldn't see the flush staining his cheeks. Bloody erotica really had turned his head.
'Oi!' Arthur could hear Merlin's shocked laughter but he didn't turn round to face him, too embarrassed by what he'd just said. And anyway, he told himself, he was Merlin's landlord, he had to inflict discipline somehow or goodness knows what Merlin would get up to next.
Once he was in the confines of his own, blissfully tidy bedroom, he felt he could relax. Casually check his email. Casually note that Merlin, whilst high on sugar had sent him a new missive.
'Dear Arthur,
Well, this is it - the boys finally Do It. A lot. In varying gymnastic positions. I do so hope you enjoy it. Looking forward to lunch.
Yours,
Lake.'
Well well well. Wellity wellity wellity. So James was finally going to give in and break the final rule - not fucking his housemate.
Arthur took off his suit jacket, loosened his tie, and settled in to read. The boys were regularly giving each other blowjobs now, and handjobs, and engaging in frottage in the shower when they were both all soapy and slick. But having sex seemed to be where James drew the line. It was as if, in his head, this was where the invisible 'YOU ARE NOT STRAIGHT ARE YOU?' line was and he just couldn't cross it. Until one day, when Harry tied him up and sucked him off for nearly an hour, and then James said, 'please, please, I want you to fuck me.'
Well, Arthur thought, that was a turn-up for the books, and especially for Lake's books where the seemingly straight guy was always the fucker rather than the fuckee.
Harry carried on sucking James off and then started touching his arsehole gently, just rubbing the slick tip of his fingers over it until James was begging for his fingers inside him. He patiently spent ages introducing one finger, then another, then another, until James was moaning and pushing himself down onto them, screwing himself on Harry's hand. Then finally, Harry took pity on him, untied him and refused to let James roll over on to his hands and knees. 'You're not going to pretend we're not doing this,' he said, and pulled one of James's legs over his shoulder, pressed the head of his thick cock to James's arsehole and then slowly, oh so slowly, slid inside. He kissed James throughout, told him how beautiful he was like this, how good he felt, how much Harry wanted to come inside him, and Harry rubbed James's leaking erection until he came over both of their stomachs, until Harry pushed deeply into James and with a hoarse cry, came.
Arthur closed the email and lay on his stomach on the bed, well aware that he was probably denting the mattress with his erection.
People never expected Arthur to bottom. Because he was loud, and confident, and rich, and a little bit arrogant, they sort of presumed that he would always be the one to do the fucking. And sometimes he would - loved the feel of being fully encased inside someone else's body, loved the erotic thrill of the power, the feel of someone's body tightening around yours. But he also loved, to a much stronger degree perhaps, the feeling of being fucked. Of being on his hands and knees, someone behind him pushing into him, not being able to control it, or the sounds he made; begging for it, asking for it in the filthiest ways he could think of. It really got him, like a punch in the stomach, hit him hard, made him breathless, to see Merlin writing it down like this. To think of Merlin being the one to finger him, to stretch him out, and then make Arthur go boneless with lust beneath him whilst he fucked him into the bed.
It was probably Gwaine who was to blame for it (Gwaine was to blame for most things after all) for spending so many dirty hours with Arthur, making him do things he'd never even thought of before, that he'd never imagined he would end up loving. Like wanking over Arthur's chest, or fucking Arthur's mouth, and fucking him bent over in the bathroom so he could watch them both in the mirror. Gwaine was hardly a selfless lover, but he seemed to take pride in stretching Arthur's sexual horizons so he was hardly recognisable from the guy who would touch a girl for a few minutes just as a precursor to fucking her. Now he could happily spend an hour just going down on someone - guy or girl - and have that as the main act itself rather than the starter before the main course of sex. He wondered how it was possible that Merlin was writing such dirty things yet was adamant that he wasn't going to have sex for ages, or get involved with someone. It seemed ridiculous to Arthur that here they both were, pining for the other, and yet pretending to the outside world that they were 'just mates' and they were fine with it.
His phone beeped, 'Spanking averted - sparkling clean xx'. He smiled, his stomach knotted up. What he felt for Merlin was so much stronger than just sex though. He was. He was. He was a little bit in love with him, he thought finally, bravely as he read the next text 'Oi, text me back... you can spank me if you must?!'
'You kinky fuck' he tapped out. 'I am busy working', he took a photo of himself wearing glasses (clear frames) and pretending to puzzle over a manuscript.
'Don't pretend Arthur - we all know you can barely read. I've found my niche: 50s housewife.' Merlin had taken a photo of himself suggestively licking a spoon, still wearing that apron.
Arthur laughed, hard, and went downstairs to join him.
***
Arthur took extra care with his clothes on Thursday. First his lucky boxers, then his lucky socks, followed by Merlin's favourite suit and tie. Even his cuff-links were lucky - he'd worn them to his first publishing job interview and they'd obviously worked miracles then given that he had little to no experience of, nor interest in, erotica and romance publishing at that point.
A few times the previous couple of days he'd considered calling the whole thing off. Just doing what Leon said, sitting down with Merlin and saying, 'Look, I've found something out...' but he knew what would happen if he did that. Merlin would be awkward, he'd be awkward, it would all be bleeding awkward. Whereas this way? Well, he had the element of surprise on his side for one and for two, he'd actually go through with it rather than choking every time he tried to tell Merlin the truth.
He sleepwalked through his morning meetings, signing off jackets willy nilly and clearing his inbox with a lot of one-liner emails.
'You seem distracted today?' Gaius had appeared as if from nowhere, clad in a white suit.
'Just busy,' Arthur said, huffing out a breath of air in an exaggerated fashion. 'You know, really getting to grips with the list. Nice suit, by the way.'
Gaius frowned at it, as if just noticing it, 'You don't think it's a bit too white do you?'
'Not at all. Just white enough,' Arthur lied. He looked like Colonel Sanders. Or a KKK member, sans hood.
'It hasn't gone unnoticed how hard you've been working on the erotica,' Gaius said thoughtfully. 'Most people think they're too good for it, but you... well, you've really taken it in your stride.'
'Um, yes,' Arthur said, awkwardly. 'I'm actually taking one of the authors out for lunch - Lake Anders?'
'Oh yes,' Gaius smiled fondly. 'Lovely Lake. He's actually the son of my niece's neighbour. Such a sweet boy. Mind like a sewer,' he grimaced, 'but very sweet in person. You'll like him. He's single you know.'
'No. No I didn't,' Arthur said, wondering where this conversation was going and praying for it to end.
'Not that I'd encourage fraternisation between editor and author you understand but... he does deserve a nice young man. I hope you're taking him somewhere delicious?'
'Um, yeah, Orso,' Arthur said, feeling like this was a trick question.
'Good, nice food there. Well,' he patted Arthur on the shoulder, 'enjoy your lunch, and don't worry too much about coming back this afternoon. You deserve a rest.'
Arthur squinted suspiciously over his shoulder at Gaius's retreating form. Maybe he was stoned? Or drunk? Or stoned and drunk? He shrugged: he had bigger fish to fry. He logged off his computer and left the office, his hands shaking slightly as he rehearsed what he was going to say. 'Merlin! What are you doing here?' or 'It's me, Arthur Stuart, your editor' or 'Please let's do the things that Harry and James do' or even 'Cricket stumps? You sick bastard'. No, not the latter, definitely not the latter. His palms were sweaty and he surreptitiously wiped them on his suit trousers. He wondered idly how Gaius coped with sweat in his white suit then shook his head violently at the image, disturbing a group of schoolchildren whose teacher eyeballed him, instructing them to 'keep to their pairs, move along children, many strange people in London.'
He got there five minutes early and was shown to his seat by the waiter. 'Some wine whilst you wait?'
'Um, yes, please, large glass of pinot grigio please.' He fought down the urge to say 'STAT'.
He took a large gulp then another. He'd deliberately positioned himself so his back was to the restaurant so he couldn't spend the time craning his neck desperately, looking for Merlin.
Then, 'Yes, Mr Anders, your dining companion is already here.' One more gulp for luck and, there, in a nice suit, his hair brushed, was Merlin, clutching a tupperware full of cupcakes.
'Arthur?' he said. He'd gone pale. Paler than normal even, which was pretty fucking vampiric at the best of times. 'Arthur, what are you..?'
'Merlin. Um.' Arthur's voice came out as a strangled squeak, as if his voice was breaking for the first time. 'I'm, um, I'm, Arthur Stuart. It was my Mum's maiden name so... um.' His speech stuttered to a halt as Merlin continued to loom over the table.
Merlin sat down heavily, grabbed the wine glass, no time for decorum, and gulped it down. 'You're my editor? Well, Lake's editor.'
'Yes, apparently,' Arthur said, unable to look away from Merlin's horrified stare.
'And you knew this?'
Arthur considered trying to make a joke like 'yeah, and you didn't?' but couldn't quite get the words out. 'Yes. Not for long. Since your birthday. Nimueh. She told me. And I didn't know how to tell you.'
'So you decided doing it in a public forum was the best way,' Merlin's voice was dangerously quiet. 'The best way to make me feel humiliated and ashamed.'
'I didn't know you'd feel humiliated and ashamed,' Arthur bleated. 'Honestly. You're a brilliant writer and I think Rules for Roommates is fucking amazing. I think you're so talented and-'
'You've read Rules for Roommates,' Merlin said it as a statement rather than a question.
'Yes,' Arthur said, wishing desperately for the waiter to come over and interrupted.
'And I bet you thought it was about you, didn't you?' Merlin's tone was frightening. His face - normally so open - was locked down, tight.
Arthur swallowed.
'I bet you had a brilliant time laughing at me, reading bits out loud, making fun of me... I can't believe you thought it was okay to keep it from me.' Merlin's arms were folded, his expression terrifying.
'No, I-' Arthur stumbled. Then he took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders and did the bravest thing he'd ever done. With or without Jagerbombs. 'I hoped it was about me,' he said softly. 'I hoped more than I've ever hoped before that you wanted me the way I wanted you. The way I want you,' he corrected himself.
There was silence for a while, Arthur's desperate hands shredded a receipt he found in his pocket.
'The way you want me?' Merlin said, quietly.
'Yes,' Arthur said, in a small voice. He chanced a look up at Merlin, but his expression was still terrifying. 'I have wanted you since the moment I first met you. I've never felt this way about anyone before. Ever.'
'I'm hardly your usual type,' Merlin said, flippantly.
'No, perhaps not, but every moment I spend with you getting to know you, and that seems less and less important.' He sighed, geared himself up to say 'I have never desired someone the way I desire you.' But he heard a crash, Merlin had thrown his chair back and stormed out.
Arthur sat there blinking. What had he said, what had he done? His hands were shaking. The waiter appeared, as if by magic, 'More wine, sir?'
'Yes,' Arthur said. 'Please. And, and,' he found himself ordering a huge bowl of pasta as well as the wine. He got his phone out, texted Leon 'Merlin stormed out. Am eating my feelings.'
'Where are you, am coming mate.'
'Orso. Hurry.'
He felt like putting his head on the table and having a good old cry. What had he said? What had he said?
'What did you say?' it was Leon, crumpled and sweating slightly. 'I was just round the corner, made up an emergency. Though looking at the state of you I think this qualifies as an emergency to be honest. What the fuck happened?'
Arthur's lower lip quivered. 'Well, he came in, I told him, he drank a load of wine, he said I'd probably been laughing at him all along... and then I said how much I wanted him.'
'Okay...'
'And then he made some comment about him not being my usual type, and I said something like the more I got to know him the less that mattered.'
'Aha,' Leon said. He beckoned the waiter over and ordered some bread, and pasta, and wine.
'What 'aha'? Why 'aha'?' Arthur's head snapped up.
Leon looked rueful. 'So his previous boyfriend made him feel shit about his appearance and made comments about being won over by his personality, and then you come along and say essentially that his looks aren't up to much but you can overlook them for his personality.'
'That's not what I said!' Arthur said.
'I know, but that's what he'll have heard. He feels embarrassed, and raw, and like he's repeating the mistakes of his past all over again.' Leon handed him some flatbread, 'Eat this, it'll help.'
Arthur took it, glowering, 'Are you going to say 'I told you so'?'
'Nope,' Leon said. 'Because I'd have loved to have been wrong, mate, and you actually fucked it up in a way that hadn't even occurred to me. But you didn't mean to, and I feel bad for you...'
'That was just a longer way of saying 'I told you so',' Arthur said, moodily. 'The crazy thing is I fancy the pants off him. Just him being near me makes me 14 years old again with inopportune erections.'
'Nice,' Leon swilled his wine around and took a mouthful. 'He doesn't know that though, does he? Probably thinks you've been reading his erotica about the two of you and thinking 'oh, poor Merlin, isn't he sweet, how embarrassing this is, seeing a sexless eunuch like him write porn' rather than wanking over it to the degree there's nearly been a national Kleenex shortage.'
'I'm going to call him,' Arthur said. 'I have to.' The phone rang to voicemail and he left a really stuttering and awkward message where he said, 'I think you're gorgeous and sexy and I want to be with you, no matter what.'
'Nice,' Leon said.
'Oh fuck off, this is really difficult for me.'
'Yeah, I know, that's why I'm here. Now come on, eat something.' Leon smiled his thanks as the waiter deposited two steaming plates of pasta.
'Ugh, why am I such an idiot?' Arthur asked.
'Because sadly your mother's genes couldn't override your father's enough,' Leon said, thoughtfully, twirling pasta around his fork.
'I've never fallen in love before, and I don't think I'll bother again if this is how it ends up,' he stated melodramatically.
'Look, just give Merlin some time, alright? Talk to him tonight, properly. Apologise, say you'll give him space until he knows what he wants. He'll come round. He obviously likes you too.'
'Maybe,' Arthur sighed, picking at the mussels dotted around his plate.
'It'll be alright,' Leon said, solemnly, covering Arthur's hand with his own. And because it was Leon, and Leon was always right, Arthur sighed and nodded, and tried to believe him.
***
Merlin wouldn't come out of his room that night, no matter that Arthur sat outside it for an uncomfortably long time.
'I'm so sorry, Merlin... please, talk to me,' he had called, plaintively, but his response had just been silence. 'I never meant to embarrass you,' he insisted. 'I am just such a cock, I do it without even realising.'
Merlin's response to that had been, 'Go away!' and then the sound of something large hitting the door. Something like a shoe, or a book.
'Fine, I'll go away, for now...' Arthur added ominously. He went down to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of wine. He knew that drinking when depressed was a very bad idea, but right now he just didn't care. He felt terrible, and if what it took was a tenner's worth of white wine to take the edge off, then that was what he was going to have to resort to doing.
It was two glasses and a Fleetwood Mac album later that Arthur came up with his master-plan. So Merlin was embarrassed? Felt exposed? Felt like Arthur didn't fancy him? Well fuck that - Arthur knew just what to do.
He got his laptop out and booted it up. Clicked on the document entitled 'Rules for Roommates' and gave himself a quick refresher on the last chapter.
There, fine, he could do this. He could so do this.
Ten minutes later he was still staring at a blank screen. How come he had edited and read porn every day for years but he couldn't do it? He took a sip of wine.
'James had had enough with the rules. He'd had enough of coming up with reasons not to let Harry touch him.' There, that was good wasn't it.
'Something inside of him had broken when Harry had fucked him. It was like the last vestiges of his will-power had gone. All he could think about was Harry's face, his blue eyes, his long fingers - about how soft his skin was, how he just wanted to touch him all the time.' Ha, Arthur thought, I could totally do this for a living.
He continued on in this way for a while, skirting around the sex but not quite getting to it, before he took a deep breath and steeled himself.
'James leaned in and caught Harry's lips in a soft kiss. 'Let me make you come,' he said, intently. 'You always give me so much pleasure, let me just touch you for a while.''
Ha, Arthur thought - erotic and highlighting what a selfless lover he was, this was good.
The blowjob scene lasted a long time. Arthur kept getting a bit turned on and stopping, just thinking about going down on Merlin, and would then snap himself out of it, force himself to concentrate. 'Erotica is an art-form, Pendragon,' he told himself.
The scene ended with Harry (aka Merlin) coming down James's (Arthur's throat) and them kissing, before James said, 'I love you, and I don't want to hide who I am any more.'
There, Arthur thought smugly, a cliffhanger. Just what the book needed to spice it up a bit. He attached it to an email and sent the message to Lake 'Please read this. I'm sorry. I care about you so much and even if you didn't have an amazing personality I'd still want to bone you every which way - you're fucking gorgeous and I could write entire sonnets to your wrists. Please please please forgive me. I've never been in love before and it makes me stupid(er). I've spent months pining for you, and months turned on as fuck over what you've been writing but you were with Percy, and then you said you wanted to be on your own and I can't bear to live with you and not be able to hold you, or kiss you, or tell you every day how amazing you are. I'm sorry. Arthur.'
He then collapsed into bed, and slept the sleep of the drunk.
***
The next morning Arthur slept through his alarm three times. When he finally woke up he had that slow, creeping paranoia that comes from having drunk too much. 'What did I do? What did I do?' he muttered to himself, falling out of bed with a thump and running to the shower.
It was only when he'd turned the shower on and stepped in that he remembered, with the sudden horror of clarity, exactly what he had done the day before. Told Merlin how he felt, got drunk, written Merlin porn.
Oh no. No no no. He squeezed his eyes shut in a 'hear no evil, see no evil' type way, but when he opened them the facts of the matter had not changed a bit. He had written erotica and sent it to his housemate, who was also his author. Fuck. A sackable offence? Probably.
He dressed as quickly and quietly as possible and practically sprinted out of the door, desperate to avoid Merlin. Oh why oh why was he such an idiot, he wondered afresh.
His phone beeped, 'Feeling better today? Leon.'
He couldn't face replying and shoved it back in his pocket. He spent the tube journey deep in a spiral of paranoia. He was convinced everyone was staring at him. He was worried he had toothpaste round his mouth, then worried that he hadn't done his flies up, or was wearing odd shoes. Finally, he was worried that he'd accidentally sent the erotica to his entire address book.
As soon as he had signal back when he was off the tube he checked his sent items on his iPhone. At least he'd just sent it to Lake. That was something.
He made it through the morning without being sick or really having to talk to anyone, and had just started to relax when he caught sight of his boss at about 4pm. Gaius was wearing a red suit today (seriously, what was this office turning into?) and made a bee-line for Arthur. 'How was my little Lake then? Heh, 'litle Lake', I should just call him 'puddle' shouldn't I? Or estuary.'
'Um fine, fine,' Arthur lied. 'Really pleased with how the books are going and he's keen to re-contract.'
'Oh you are so good,' Gaius smiled.
'Thanks,' Arthur said, feeling slightly sick.
'Oh gosh, speak of the devil,' Gaius gestured at Arthur's email. 'He's emailed you. I'll leave you to it then,' and he winked at Arthur, before sauntering off.
Arthur went from feeling 'slightly' sick to feeling as sick as he had the first time he'd gone to Alton Towers and insisted on riding Oblivion four times in a row, straight after lunch. He opened the email with his eyes closed, then opened first one, then the other.
'Dear Arthur,
Thank you for this missive. Apart from a few uses of 'dock' where I believe you meant 'dick' and the unfortunate use of the word 'viscous' to describe the texture of ejaculate, I found this moving.
Let's talk later.
Lake.'
Man alive. That was rather unexpected. Maybe it had been the claim of writing sonnets to Merlin's wrists that had done it? But whatever it was, he was suddenly rather looking forward to the evening rather than greeting it with sick dread. He texted Leon, 'All okay, I think. Thanks for being such a good mate.'
***
He had bought Merlin flowers. And chocolate. And champagne. He'd drawn the line at one of those cheesy 'Me To You' teddy-bears but had briefly considered it in a fit of madness.
He struggled to open the door and was surprised when it was flung open from the other side by Merlin, looking adorable as ever in a pair of jeans and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up. 'Got my wrists out,' Merlin said with a leer. 'In case you wanted to write any poetry.'
Arthur flushed bright red, 'I'm so embarrassed.'
Merlin went pale, 'You did mean it though? It wasn't just because you were drunk? Oh fuck, have I made a fool of myself again.' He smacked himself hard on the forehead.
'Fucking hell, no! I meant every word of it, apart from 'viscous' maybe, that was a bit weird. I just feel so exposed.'
'Think how I felt, then,' Merlin said. 'Oh, wow, are these for me?' He practically swooned at the presents. 'Arthur!'
'Yes, they're sorry presents. And 'please can we start over' presents.'
Merlin embraced the chocolates, champagne and flowers in a way which made Arthur rethink his decision not to buy the teddy bear. 'I've made dinner, by the way.'
'So, um, what did you think about... what I wrote.' Arthur trailed behind him to the kitchen, feeling wrong-footed but hopeful.
'Well, from a professional standpoint you needed to do more to differentiate between James and Harry as all those 'hims' get confusing.' He flashed a wicked grin at Arthur as he went back to stirring, leaving him awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. 'But from a personal viewpoint I thought it was one of the most romantic things anyone has ever done from me. And, um,' he busied himself over the stove. 'I feel the same.'
'About my wrists?' Arthur said stupidly.
'No,' Merlin laughed. 'You have very average wrists. But about you in general. I, um, might be a bit in love with you too.'
'Really? But, but, but Percy!'
'I felt very conflicted about him,' Merlin said. 'And I thought you'd never look at someone like me. Sometimes you said things that made me think otherwise, but most of the time I thought you just looked on me as a very good mate. Like Leon or someone. And then there was Gwaine.'
'Gwaine was supposed to make me forget about you,' Arthur said. He came up behind Merlin and rested his head between his shoulder blades, let his hands encircle his waist.
'I won't stir this very well if you keep doing that,' Merlin said, relaxing against him.
'I don't mind,' Arthur said. 'I'd never eat again if it meant I could touch you whenever I wanted.'
Merlin laughed, 'You really have been reading too many romance novels.'
'No, I've just never been in love before.' It was easier to say when his face was buried in Merlin's shirt, and he was inhaling him.
'Right, off,' Merlin said. 'We are going to eat dinner and talk like civilised adults.'
'I don't want to,' Arthur said, but reluctantly he moved away, greedily watching Merlin rather than the food for once in his life.
'So,' Merlin said. 'We need to talk about us. No more secrets, no more misunderstandings and farce, alright?'
'Alright,' Arthur said, tucking in to his stir-fry with gusto. 'So I edit erotica and romance for a living. And I thought you were a right pain in the arse.'
Merlin sniffed, huffily, 'I prefer the term 'efficient' or 'business-like'.'
'Nah,' Arthur disagreed. 'You were difficult and time-consuming. And really, really filthy.'
Merlin blushed, 'Yes, about that...'
'... You left a lot out when you told me about your schooldays, is all I can imagine,' Arthur continued. 'Far less homework and far more whipping.'
'I have a vivid imagination,' Merlin said. 'I like writing erotica. And it wasn't all lies, I do ghost celebrity autobiographies and whatnot too. Just, 99% of it is porny porn.'
'Really porny porn,' Arthur said. 'Honestly, I was so close to having you arrested a few times. 'What kind of sick mind dreams up tails that end in butt-plugs?' I asked myself. Never dreaming I was living with such a deviant.'
'Shut up shut up this is so embarrassing!' Merlin chanted.
'But Rules for Roommates was different,' Arthur said. 'I'd never been turned on by something an author wrote until then. I used to get erections at work and everything.'
'Fuck off,' Merlin smiled.
'Yep, I did. And I'd hit refresh approximately twenty times a night waiting for the next chapter. That combined with the sexual tension of being around you was an absolute killer. It's a wonder I got any work done.'
Merlin was a lovely pinkish shade. 'So you really do fancy me then?'
'Oh yes,' Arthur said. 'And when I found out Lake was you... well, I couldn't help casting us in the roles, lying there wanking each night, imagining you coming in and catching me... joining in.'
Merlin swallowed, pushed his chair back, and came to stand over Arthur. 'I don't think I want to eat any more.'
'No,' Arthur agreed, pulling Merlin onto his lap. 'Please may I kiss you?'
'Yes. Please,' Merlin said, with emphasis.
Arthur kissed his chest and his throat, where the pleasing flush had migrated, finally meeting Merlin's lips. They kissed slowly, very sweetly, and it reminded Arthur of snogging at school. Merlin's tongue shyly stroked against his and then he seemingly grew in confidence and kissed Arthur harder, teeth grazing his bottom lip, sucking his tongue into his mouth.
'You're so fit,' Arthur whispered.
Merlin's answer was to slide so he was straddling Arthur's lap, his erection pressed against Arthur's, and rub against him. They kissed like that for ages, in that teenaged way, slowly pushing against each other all the while. 'Do you want to come up to my bedroom?' Arthur whispered against his lips.
'Very much,' Merlin said.
They lay on Arthur's bed, Merlin's leg thrown over his hip, his thumb stroking circles over Arthur's hipbone, and then Arthur started unbuttoning Merlin's shirt. Kissing every patch of skin he uncovered. 'You are so lovely,' he kissed his way down to Merlin's stomach, stopping to unbutton his jeans. 'I intend to keep you in bed for as long as humanly possible.'
Merlin giggled, breathlessly, impatiently tugging on Arthur's clothes. 'Come on, off.' Arthur stopped undressing Merlin only to give himself a chance to take everything off, eager to get back to kissing him as soon as possible. 'I thought we were going to talk like grown-ups?' Arthur teased, as he pulled his trousers off.
'This is how grown-ups talk,' Merlin said. 'Well, some grown-ups. The ones in porn, probably. Basically, I am in love with you and you are in love with me, and we should be a couple. Even if it is soon. It feels right,' he babbled, 'and anyway the past few months have basically been foreplay every day and I just have to feel you naked or I'll die.' He paused for breath then, 'Fuck, you're gorgeous.' He looked long and hard at Arthur, from his face to his chest, spending rather a long while staring at his erection which seemed to throb even harder under his gaze. Arthur fought the urge to cover himself with his hands. Finally, Merlin pulled Arthur down on top of him, rubbed his erection sluttishly against Arthur's until he moaned into his mouth. 'You feel so good against me,' he said. 'Fuck, you're so hard.'
'Merlin,' Arthur said, stupidly. 'Merlin, Merlin.' He rolled them over until Merlin was on top of him. 'Sit up, I want to look at you.'
Merlin hung his head, bashful, then sat up, wrapped a hand around both of their erections and slid them together inexpertly. Arthur was leaking pre-come everywhere, sliding against Merlin's dick. Merlin's dick was longer than his, the head rosy red, wet as anything, and Arthur added his own hand to the mix, rubbing the head of his dick against Merlin's.
'I want to suck you,' Merlin said.
'But I thought you didn't like blowjobs,' Arthur said then, 'fuck, not that I want to put you off.'
Merlin lay next to him, loosely touching himself, and began to lick the head, sliding the flat of his tongue over the dripping slit, tonguing the underside then finally, finally allowing it all into his mouth. Sucking hard, 'Fuck,' Arthur's hands skated over Merlin's head and settled on his shoulders.
Merlin pushed himself up, let one hand rest round the base of Arthur's dick, tossing him off slowly, whilst he let the head fuck his mouth. Arthur was painfully aroused. Merlin moaned around it, pulled off to say, 'It feels good. The sounds you make. I'm so hard.' Then he bent back to it, skittering his tongue round the edges of the head of Arthur's dick, teasing him.
'Please will you fuck me,' Arthur said, finally. 'I want you inside me so much.'
Merlin pulled off abruptly, looked nervously up at him. 'I've never done that before.' But he let his fingers rest briefly against Arthur's arsehole, just circling.
'It doesn't matter, I just want you to fuck me so much. Your fingers, fuck,' he pulled Merlin forward and kissed his swollen mouth again and again. He was pretty impressed at his multi-tasking that he managed to get lube out whilst kissing, but he handed it to Merlin alright. Merlin looked at him through the tangle of his fringe. 'You sure?'
'Yes, yes.'
Merlin pressed a sweet, hot kiss against the head of Arthur's dick and then knelt next to him. Even watching him slick his fingers up felt like it was too much to bear: he had to look away. He let his fingers brush the hole, circling slowly, til Arthur pushed against him. 'Do it, please,' and then he slid one, long finger in slowly, right down to the knuckle. Arthur gasped, put his heels on the bed, opened his legs. His dick was hard and heavy between them. Merlin looked at him in wonder. 'More?'
'More,' he arched as Merlin added a second, pushing them slowly in and out, oh so slowly, as if he was afraid that Arthur would break at any moment. 'More, please.'
He looked at Merlin's long, thick cock, thought about how it would feel, the burn of it inside him, the noises Merlin would make. 'I'm going to make it feel so good for you,' Arthur promised, moaning, rolling his hips.
'I believe you,' Merlin said, seriously. He reached for Arthur's dick with his free hand, stroked in time with his fingers thrusting inside Arthur's body. Arthur closed his eyes, let his head loll back on the pillow, all he could do was feel.
Merlin put the condom on with shaking hands, let Arthur rub more lube onto him, pushing into his hand, fucking it. 'Are you ready?'
Arthur felt the blunt pressure of the head of Merlin's dick. 'Yes, yes,' he pushed against him. Merlin pushed slowly, and Arthur felt his body open for him, felt him rock his way in in increments, never enough, it would never be enough. Arthur's eyes found Merlin's, 'Come on, fuck me,' he begged, pushing against him, 'I want to come around your dick.'
Merlin moaned, thrust until he was fully inside Arthur and then stopped. 'Fuck, you're so tight. It feels amazing.'
'You feel so good,' Arthur breathed. 'Come on, do it, I want it so much.'
Merlin's hair was hanging in his eyes but he didn't take them off Arthur - off his eyes, his mouth - the whole time. He started to thrust in earnest and Arthur reveled in the feel of it, how full he was, how good Merlin looked over him. He rubbed his erection. 'Merlin, I'm so hard, you've made me so hard. My dick's leaking with it, I have to come, I can't not come.' He couldn't stop speaking, had never been so hard before, never, his dick was like iron, wet and messy, sliding against their stomachs as Merlin thrust faster and faster. 'I'm going to come, fuck, fuck, Merlin,' he muttered nonsense as he thrust into his own hand, felt his orgasm hit him like a rush, spurting over both of them, his breathing loud and harsh.
Merlin didn't say anything, much, just moved faster and faster and with one, bitten off, 'Fuck' he buried himself inside Arthur as Arthur revelled in the feel of his dick pulsing inside him. Merlin was sweaty as he rested his head against Arthur's but he didn't mind, kissed him, open mouthed and sloppy, tongues everywhere.
'Fuck,' Merlin said again, pulling out, tying a neat knot in the end of the condom and chucking it at the bin before slumping down next to Arthur, his head on his chest. He smiled, suddenly.
'What, Merlin?'
'I never have sex on the first date,' he said. 'It's a rule of mine.'
'Ah well,' Arthur grinned, 'in for a penny,' and he pulled Merlin up and to him and kissed him again and again. 'Rules were made to be broken after all.'
-- THE END