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Ed had never heard Stede sound so panicked.
 
Sure, he'd seen him worked-up about table settings and summer linens and calligraphy and scuffed leather, but that was always underlined by a sort of adorable frustration that made Ed fall even harder in love with the man who was supposed to be his best friend.
 
This was different. Stede sounded frenzied, overwhelmed, nearly incoherent. Ed could barely understand what he was saying over the phone -- just that Stede needed help, and he didn't have anyone else to ask, and Ed needed to get to his apartment as soon as possible.
 
Stede could hardly finish his sentences without gasping and groaning, and a cold fear shot up Ed's spine that Stede was seriously hurt or sick. Ed definitely deserved to lose his license for the way he tore across town, nearly double the speed limit the whole way there, but thankfully avoided being pulled over and further delayed from reaching Stede.
 
Finally, finally, Ed made it to Stede's apartment, pounding on the door and not bothering to wait for a response before using the spare key Stede had given him years ago in case of emergencies (or if Stede's plants needed watering, or Ed needed to crash on the couch, or if Stede's hands were busy making dinner for them, or if Ed just wanted to hang out. There was always some reason).
 
Ed barged into the apartment, but Stede wasn't in the living room or kitchen. "Stede! Where are you, mate?"
 
Stede's voice was wavering as he called out. "I'm in the bedroom!"
 
Ed rushed to Stede's room and threw open the door. Stede was sitting at the edge of his thoroughly rumpled bed in only boxer briefs and a t-shirt that was soaked through with sweat. He was flushed bright red and sweaty, breathing hard and shivering slightly. His hair was a mess, eyes unfocused and frantic, jaw tense, and he gripped the edge of the bed with white knuckles.
 
Stede's gaze shot straight to Ed as soon as he walked through the bedroom door, eyes widening in something like relief as he tried to get to his feet. "Ed! Thank-- guh--!" It was almost like he'd been stricken, falling to his knees on the carpet beside the bed.
 
"Stede!" Ed rushed to Stede's side immediately, putting an arm around him as he tried to ascertain what was wrong with him. "Fuck, Stede, are you hurt?"
 
Stede was shaking his head, but his breath was coming out in shudders, and Ed was starting to panic. "Shit, should I take you to the hospital?" he asked, supporting Stede's weight as he helped him to his feet, Stede practically hanging off of him.
 
"No! No..." Stede gasped out. "It's not like that... fuck this is embarrassing." he gripped Ed's shirt between his fingers, holding Ed close and hiding his face, panting in Ed's ear, his words interspersed with little gasps. "Ed, I didn't know what to do -- ah! I didn't-- I can't turn it off... and it won't come out, and I can't--" Stede cut off with a low sound in the back of his throat that shot tingling bolts of electricity down Ed's spine, pooling somewhere in his gut.
 
That's when he heard a quiet buzzing over the sound of his own panic.
 
Ed noticed a few things in the span of a few seconds. First was the open, matte black box on Stede's nightstand beside a bottle of lube. Next was the tiny remote thrown haphazardly on the bedsheets. And finally, Stede's erection straining through his boxer briefs and poking Ed in the hip.
 
"Ed, I need your help... please."
 
Heat rushed to Ed's skin immediately, coming over him in a wave.
 
Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK...
 
Stede's legs were trembling, and -- shocked as he was -- Ed worried that he might collapse again at any moment. He helped him down to the bed again, sitting back against the pillows. Ed sat at the edge of the bed, knowing his eyes were wide as he stared at his best friend squirming against the bed.
 
"Okay, let me get this straight..." Ed began, not having an inkling of how to appropriately approach this conversation, but forging ahead anyways. "So, you put in a new... toy, right?"
 
Stede nodded, biting his lip. Ed scolded himself as he imagined Stede's lips red and kiss-swollen because of him. Panting because of what Ed could do to him. He shook himself. He was definitely going to go to hell for having impure thoughts during his friend's time of crisis.
 
"And the vibrations won't turn off?"
 
Another nod.
 
"And it's... stuck?"
 
Stede nodded again, looking beyond embarrassed. Ed wanted to comfort him, but he had no fucking idea what the protocol was here. "It's not just that it won't stop, it's-- ah, ah!" Suddenly the sound of the vibration was much louder. Stede's hand scrabbled for the discarded remote in the covers, holding on to one of the buttons as he tried to calm himself down. "The whole blasted thing is defective or something! No matter what setting I put it on, at some point it'll automatically switch on to maximum." Stede looked at Ed a little helplessly. "It's so random that I can't... relax enough to take it out, and it's so distracting that I can't read the directions to stop it. Didn't know what else to do... didn't know who else to call."
 
Ed's brain was stalling out. "So you want me to... what?"
 
Stede practically threw the remote and the plug instructions at him. "Figure out how to stop it! Please!"
 
Ed fumbled the remote, trying not to drop it, but must have accidentally pressed one of the buttons, because Stede swore, gripping the sheets in his fists.
 
"Fuck, fuck, sorry!" Ed scrambled to read through the instructions and quickly found the button to set it to low. Stede was physically relieved, shoulders dropping. Ed could see a visible wet spot at the front of his underwear now, and tried to banish the thought from his mind as he read through the instructions. It would get them absolutely nowhere if all of Ed's blood rushed to the wrong head. Not that he was particularly succeeding in that department.
 
The instructions were clearly poorly translated, but it still should have been simple. It said to hold down the power button on the remote for five seconds to turn off the plug. Ed did that, and did it again, and again to no avail. He could still hear it buzzing away. Shit. He tried changing the vibration setting and then pressing the power button. Stede whined as the low vibration kicked up a little harder, and Ed winced.
 
"Sorry, sorry! Does it hurt?"
 
Stede wouldn't quite meet his eyes. "Um. Not exactly. It's just been a while now and it's a bit overwhelming."
 
"How long has it been in?" Ed asked, not sure if that was over the line, considering the circumstances.
 
"Not sure. Two and half hours? Maybe longer?"
 
Ed's mouth went dry. Fuck, that long? No wonder he was frantic. Ed wasn't sure how he hadn't lost his mind. Another part of Ed sort of marveled at the battery life, and would have made note of the brand if their product wasn't so obviously faulty.
 
Ed did everything he could think of to turn the damned thing off. He held the power button for nearly a minute. No effect. He re-read the instructions over and over, looking for something. Some explanation of why this might be happening or some strange setting that Stede might have activated on accident. And every so often it would randomly kick up to the highest vibration setting, making Stede gasp and making the visible bulge straining his underwear leak even more.
 
Ed was definitely uncomfortably hard now in his jeans.
 
He even tried taking the batteries out of the remote, but for some reason all that did was make it so that the vibration settings cycled wildly, making Stede let out a loud moan, rocking his hips uncontrollably. It was both amazing and terrifying, and Ed made a mental note to feel guilty about just how much he would be thinking about this for the rest of his life. He shoved the batteries back into the remote as fast as he could and put it back down to the lowest setting.
 
Finally, in a last-ditch effort, unsure of what else to do, Ed just started pushing all the buttons.
 
"Oh, Ed--!" The buzzing got louder, faster, and Stede's back arched off the bed. "Oh my god!" Ed scrambled to turn it back to the low setting as quickly as possible, but it was already done. Stede's hips stuttered, mouth falling open as he let out a long, loud moan.
 
Watching Stede come was beautiful and devastating and Ed would absolutely be thinking about it for the rest of his life. Stede's flushed face and parted lips and mussed hair. The way he couldn't stop writhing on the bed as the wet spot on his underwear grew and spread, riding out the shocks of his orgasm. It would be the scene playing behind Ed's eyelids every time he took himself in hand from then on. Stede coming without Ed ever touching him. The image seared into his brain.
 
Ed watched as Stede came down, diligently attending to the remote to keep the vibrations low. While some of the tension had released from Stede with his orgasm, eyes closed, slumped against the pillows, Ed could tell he was still overstimulated, breathing hard.
 
Suddenly, Stede's eyes snapped open, expression alarmed as he met Ed's dumbfounded gaze. They spoke at the same time.
 
"I'm sorry, mate. I didn't realize it would--"
 
"Ed, I'm so sorry! I'm so embarrassed--"
 
They stopped, and Ed frowned at him. "Don't fuckin' apologize for coming, Stede." Please don't. "Not like you could help it."
 
Stede dropped his head back against the headboard. "I'm just so embarrassed about this whole thing. I feel ridiculous."
 
Ed dared to put a supportive, comforting hand on Stede's ankle, thumb stroking over the bone there, and Stede shivered. "Listen Stede, you're my best fucking friend. In the world. Ever. This isn't gonna change that. No weirdness, okay?"
 
Stede looked at least mildly relieved by that, nudging Ed with his ankle.
 
"That being said, this isn't working," Ed said, wiggling the remote in his hand.
 
Stede scoffed. "Yeah, no shit."
 
Ed fought a smile at that. He loved Stede's attitude sometimes. Even as he cringed internally for what he knew had to be done next.
 
"So. If we can't turn it off, we're going to have to... take it out."
 
"I can't," Stede groaned. "I tried. The sensation is too much for me. I just can't... let go."
 
"You can. I can talk you through it."
 
"No, Ed, I mean..." Stede released his iron grip on the sheets and raised his hands in front of him. It was only then that Ed noticed their uncontrollable shaking. "I mean I literally, physically can't get it out like this."
 
Ed nodded, resisting the urge to put his head through the wall. He took a deep breath. "You couldn't do it alone. I can help."
 
Stede froze, and for a moment, the buzzing sound of the plug seemed to fill the room in a cacophony of debauchery.
 
"You would do that?" Stede finally asked.
 
"Yeah," Ed swallowed back the admission that he really, really wanted to. Some higher power was testing him today and he was failing miserably. "Do you trust me?"
 
"Of course," Stede said without hesitation.
 
Ed shrugged, trying to act more unphased than he felt. "Then I'll do it. No weirdness, remember?"
 
"Right... no weirdness." Stede nodded slowly, biting his lip again. His hands moved to the waistband of his underwear. "Then I guess I'll just..."
 
Ed nodded like the voice inside his head wasn't screaming. "Go on. It's okay, I promise."
 
With shaking hands, Stede managed to fumble his underwear down and off, and there he was -- completely bared to Ed except for his shirt. Ed did his best not to stare, but apparently his best wasn't very good. Stede was somehow already half-hard again, his cock wet with his own come. And there, nestled between his cheeks was the purple silicone end of the still-buzzing plug.
 
Ed's brain went utterly blank for a few seconds before he managed to shake himself out of it, just praying he wasn't drooling. No big deal. It was just his best friend's dick. His best friend that he was in love with and drove him utterly crazy. Just his dick. And his vibrating plug in his asshole. No big deal. Ed could be cool. Definitely. Probably.
 
"Right then," Ed began, putting a gentle hand on Stede's upper thigh to ease them both into touching. Stede shivered again at his touch, rocking back on the plug gently like he couldn't help it, and Ed felt his own cock twitch against the seam of his jeans as he contemplated jumping from Stede's fourth floor window. "I'm going to... touch it now. Okay? Let me know if you want to stop."
 
Stede nodded furiously.
 
"Okay." Ed reached between Stede's legs, mind bending as he tentatively grasped at the base of the plug that was slick with lube and gave it an experimental tug. Stede was right. It hardly budged. Ed kicked off his boots and settled further on the bed to get a closer look. Another little tug, and this time a low moan ripped from Stede's throat, pushing back against Ed now. From this angle, Ed could see the way Stede's muscles clamped down around the toy, pulsing.
 
Ed was going to faint. Or die. Or both.
 
What a way to go, though.
 
"You need to relax, Stede."
 
Stede's gaze shot to his, and Ed had to bite back a laugh at the spark of annoyance he saw there. "Wow, great idea! Can't believe I didn't think of that before!" Stede groaned as the vibration automatically kicked up again, and Ed quickly lowered it. "I'd bloody well love to, Ed!"
 
"Okay, okay!" Ed said, trying to soothe Stede but unable to stop himself from a small, slightly hysterical laugh. This whole situation felt like a dream. Or a nightmare, depending on how you looked at it. How was Stede still fucking hilarious like this? "Not to get too personal or anything, mate, but since my hand is already between your legs, I'm gonna ask: what were you thinking about when you put this thing in?"
 
Stede's mouth gaped open, and if possible, he flushed even redder. "You want to know what I thought about to... open myself up?"
 
Ed hoped Stede didn't notice the way Ed licked his lips as his gaze shot back to the plug fitted between Stede's cheeks. "Yeah. Maybe if you focus on that, I could help talk you through it and you can relax enough for me to get this thing out of you."
 
Stede scoffed and looked away. "I am not telling you that!"
 
"Why not?"
 
"Because it's personal, Ed!"
 
Ed barked out a disbelieving laugh. "Stede, my fingers are literal inches away from your asshole. I think we're a little bit beyond personal."
 
Stede groaned miserably, grabbing one of the pillows beside him and smashing it into his face to hide. "But it's so embarrassing!" he whined, his voice muffled by pillow stuffing.
 
"Again mate, we're a little beyond that point." Ed reached out to grasp one of Stede's trembling hands, trying for a comforting, grounding touch. "Look, nothing you could do or say would make me think less of you. You're not gonna drive me away, and if you want... we'll never talk about this again. I'm not gonna hold this against you just because you need help."
 
Stede lowered the pillow enough so he could peek out at Ed. "Really? You mean that?"
 
"Cross my heart," Ed promised, crossing himself with his free hand. "Besides, I already saw you come. Don't think there's any walls between us now."
 
Stede glared at him. "I hate you."
 
Ed gave him a wolfish grin. "Now tell me what you were thinking about."
 
Stede let out a deep sigh, bracing himself. "I was thinking about... you," he said, voice small.
 
Ed blinked. "You were thinking about... me?"
 
"Yes," Stede said, blushing furiously, and Ed knew he should think of something intelligent to say, but his whole brain was rearranging itself in the span of a few seconds.
 
Stede Bonnet, Ed's best friend in the entire world, who he was secretly in love with, had gotten into bed with Ed on his mind. He had reached for that toy thinking about Ed. Had opened himself up thinking about Ed's hands and lips and body on top of him probably. Was going to think about Ed to make himself come.
 
Imagine that.
 
"Ed, please say something," Stede said, looking concerned now. Ed hadn't said anything for several seconds, the room quiet except for the buzzing toy. "What are you thinking?"
 
Ed moved purposefully, deliberately, yanking the pillow from Stede's fingers and dropping it to the floor, making Stede let out a small sound of surprise. He got close, bracketing Stede's body with his own. Stede's eyes were wide as he looked up at him.
 
"I'm thinking about all the batteries I've killed thinking about you," Ed said, his voice low.
 
It took Stede a moment, but then understanding lit his eyes and his mouth dropped open. "Really?"
 
Ed smiled, daring to brush damp blond hair out of the other man's face. "I have an Amazon subscription for triple A's." His hand traced down Stede's temple, skimming along his jaw. "Wore out a few motors too."
 
"I... well that's... wow." Stede looked a little dumbfounded, but Ed gave him credit for even being able to string words together at this point.
 
Ed's eyes landed on Stede's lips. Pink and soft and a little swollen from biting them. "I can tell you about it if you'd like. All the ways I've thought about you." Ed cocked his head to one side, trailing his fingers down Stede's throat now. "Would that help you relax?"
 
Stede looked like he wanted to say something, but gave up and nodded furiously instead.
 
"Is that a yes?" Ed prompted, needing to hear him say it.
 
"Yes! Please, Ed I--"
 
Ed swallowed the rest of Stede's sentence in a kiss, his mind going liquid at the little sound Stede made in the back of his throat at the contact. Ed was right. Stede's lips were soft.
 
It was Stede who traced the seam of Ed's lips with his tongue, and Ed opened for him, melting against Stede at the feeling of their tongues sliding together, tasting each other for the first time. God, this was everything he ever could have wanted and more. His inner voice was screaming with joy.
 
This is happening!
 
Ed could feel Stede's shaking hands scrabbling at the hem of Ed's shirt, trying to push it up, trembling fingers skimming along Ed's stomach. Ed broke the kiss and sat back on his heels, pulling the shirt over his head. Stede was already sitting up tugging his own off, and Ed helped him toss it away.
 
"God, look at you," Ed said, voice husky as he took in pretty flushed skin and pink nipples. "How could I not imagine you like this?" Ed moved down, mouthing along Stede's jaw while Stede rocked his hips, seemingly unable to help himself with all this extra stimulation. "All breathless and keyed up and moaning, all for me. Do you even realize how turned on I've been this whole time?" Ed asked, grasping one of Stede's hands and bringing it down to press against the insistent bulge in his jeans. Stede whined when he felt it, running his palm along the clothed length of it, making Ed's mouth fall open against his neck. "I was trying to keep it together this whole time but you're so goddamn sexy I was losing my mind."
 
"Ed... please..."
 
"I think about you all the time," Ed went on, tracing his tongue down Stede's neck, his chest, finally taking one peaked nipple into his mouth, making Stede arch from the bed. "I thought about how you might taste. Like lavender and citrus like your fancy soaps, but this is even better. Salty with sweat from that toy being in you, thinking about me." Ed nipped gently at the raised bud with his teeth. He reached down between Stede's legs and just barely brushed the base of the plug and Stede jumped.
 
"God, I'm so sensitive," Stede said, breathing heavily.
 
"Do you want me to stop?" Ed asked, pulling away some.
 
"Don't you dare."
 
Ed grinned, reached for the lube on the nightstand, and wriggled the rest of the way down Stede's body, settling between Stede's legs as he refocused on his task. "Like I said before, you tell me any time you need to stop." Stede was somehow fully hard again, and the sight of Stede's flushed cock sent a little thrill through Ed. "I've worn plugs like this before," Ed said, tracing the edges of the base with one finger.
 
"You have?" Stede asked, eyes dark, half-lidded.
 
"Mmhmm..." Ed squeezed a small amount of lube onto his finger and gently massaged around the tight furl of Stede's rim that he could reach with the plug partially in the way. Stede gasped at the first touch of Ed's finger against him.
 
Ed kept massaging, trying to get the muscle to relax, but Stede was too worked up and oversensitive, squirming against him. Ed could see Stede squeezing around the plug as he panted.
 
Ed placed a grounding hand on Stede's stomach. "Do me a favor and keep your breathing slow for me, darling," Ed said, demonstrating the slow speed of the rise and fall of Stede's breath that he wanted with his hand. "We need to calm you down so I can get this thing out of you," Ed said, circling his lubed finger around the plug again when Stede glared at him.
 
"Fuck Ed, how am I supposed to do that with you touching me like that?"
 
Ed shrugged. "You're going to have to find a way. I'll try to help. Coach you through it and all that. Now take a few deep breaths for me, love."
 
Stede shot him one more withering glare but obeyed, closing his eyes and working to take three slow, deep breaths.
 
"Very good," Ed praised, kissing Stede's hip. "Now try to keep that pace while I touch you, okay?"
 
Stede nodded, and Ed set back to massaging the muscle again. Stede only faltered for a moment before schooling himself back into his deep breaths.
 
"I thought about you when I put my plug in too," Ed said, stopping when he heard Stede's breathing hitch, only continuing when it evened out again.
 
"You... you did?"
 
"Yes. I imagined that you were the one touching me. That you were exploring me with your hands and your mouth. That you were the one opening me up with your fingers until I was begging for it-- watch your breathing, darling," Ed warned, smoothing his hand over Stede's stomach. "There you are. Well done," Ed said, kissing Stede's inner thigh now, feeling the man shiver under his hands. Stede was like a live wire beneath him, and Ed was the only thing keeping him from combusting.
 
Meanwhile Ed felt like every cell in his body was slowly melting.
 
Stede wasn't nearly as tight around the toy as he had been only minutes prior, and visibly so. Ed gave the plug an experimental tug, and it moved, keeping his other hand on Stede's stomach to remind him to keep his breathing slow. "Look at that! We're already making progress." Stede let out a barely perceptible whine in acknowledgement, and Ed soothed his hand over the other man's abdomen.
 
"Now, where was I? Oh, right. So I imagined that you were the one fingering me, getting me ready. Then, when I was nice and open and wet, I slid the plug in and turned it on, and imagined that it was your cock hammering my prostate-- slow down," Ed reminded with a gentle pressure to Stede's abdomen. "Good job." They were making progress. He had the base almost all the way out. Next would come the hard bit of getting the widest part of the toy past Stede's rim without hurting him. "You know, sometimes I would leave it in even after I came, just to imagine that you weren't done using me yet."
 
"Oh god." Stede's words came out on a moan.
 
"I wanted you to bend me over and fuck me over every available surface in my house."
 
"Ed..." He was trembling all over now, but admirably not clamping down on the toy.
 
"Is that what you imagined today?" Ed asked. "When you were putting your toy in, did you imagine my fingers filling you? My cock?"
 
Stede nodded, his hands twitching where they gripped the sheets.
 
"What else did you think about?" Ed prompted. He felt a bit like he was diffusing a bomb, trying to get the defective plug out of Stede before it malfunctioned again and switched to the highest settings. Ed had a feeling that might ruin all their progress.
 
"Your mouth," Stede answered. "Your mouth on my cock."
 
"Would you like my mouth now?" Ed asked. His jaw had been aching ever since Stede took off his underwear. He wanted it. Badly.
 
Stede seemed to echo his sentiments. "God yes. Please."
 
Ed smirked at him. "I will because you're doing so well. Just remember to stay calm for me."
 
"Fuck, anything."
 
Ed grinned and pressed another kiss to the soft skin of Stede's hip. "Alright then." Ed lowered his head until he could lick a stripe up Stede's cock, already sticky from his earlier orgasm. Stede whined and fisted the sheets.
 
"You can touch me. Put your hands in my hair if you like," Ed told him.
 
Stede did so immediately, sinking his fingers into Ed's long, silvering hair, tugging just enough to be felt, but not enough to hurt.
 
Ed sank back down and took the head of Stede's cock in his mouth, suckling on it, tasting salt and skin, keeping that pressure with his free hand on Stede's abdomen to remind him to breathe. All the while he worked the plug slowly, bit by bit. They were nearly there, the widest part almost beyond Stede's rim.
 
Ed swiped his tongue over the head of Stede's cock, sealing his mouth around it. Stede moaned Ed's name, fingernails scratching at his scalp.
 
Then, all at once, the widest part of the plug slipped past Stede's rim, the rest of it coming easily after that. Ed popped off of Stede's cock and dropped the toy on the bed with a triumphant smirk. Stede kicked the thing away like it was a loaded gun and sent it clattering to the floor. And not a moment too soon, because it started going berserk the moment it dropped.
 
Stede collapsed back against the pillows with a sigh of relief, closing his eyes. "Thank fucking God."
 
Ed sat up, chuckling. He placed a hand on Stede's calf, squeezing. "God wasn't exactly the one with your dick in his mouth, love."
 
Stede's eyes flew open, laser focused on Ed in a way that surprised him after all that he'd been through. "Very true."
 
Before Ed could even register what was happening, he was being thrown on his back at the end of the bed, Stede straddling his hips.
 
Stede reached for Ed's belt buckle, fumbling it open. "Edward Teach, I need you to fuck me immediately."
 
All of Ed's cool melted out of his brain instantaneously. "Aren't you sore?"
 
"Of course I am," Stede all but snapped, finally getting the belt open and working on the fastenings of Ed's jeans. "But also, if I don't have your cock inside of me in the next thirty seconds, I'm actually going to die."
 
"You're a fuckin' lunatic," Ed said, in awe as he lifted his hips, letting Stede shimmy his jeans and underwear down his legs. "How are you still going after all of that?"
 
Stede settled back on Ed's hips, their naked cocks bumping together. "You have that effect on me," he said, leaning down and meeting Ed in a kiss.
 
This was nothing like the slow, measured pleasure of a few minutes ago when they were still trying to get the toy out of Stede. This was frenzied, and messy, and raw. Their tongues met in a filthy slide. They rutted against each other, gasping at the friction of their cocks moving together until they were barely kissing, just swallowing the sounds of pleasure the other person made.
 
"Fuck me, I'm ready." Stede quickly opened the drawer to the nightstand and basically threw a condom at Ed to put on. Stede's hand scrabbled over the sheets until he found the long-forgotten bottle of lube, and he quickly slicked up Ed's cock.
 
Ed nearly arched off the bed at the feeling of Stede's hands on him alone, and then Stede was sinking down on his cock, already open and wet, and Ed was sure he'd never have another coherent thought ever again. The only thing he would be able to think about for the rest of his life would be the feeling of Stede's warmth enveloping him, the image of Stede above him, flushed and mouth fallen open as he took Ed's cock. Nothing else mattered.
 
And then Stede started to move, and Ed was lost again, the slick drag of Stede's inner walls against him. He didn't even care about the loud, lewd noises he was undoubtedly making. All he could do was run his hands over Stede's chest, his peaked nipples, his ribs, his hips as he worked himself on Ed's cock over and over again, his own cock hard and bouncing as he moved.
 
All of a sudden, Stede's legs went out from under him, and he all but collapsed against Ed's chest. "Fuck, I can't. My stupid legs are basically jelly."
 
Ed smoothed his hands over Stede's back, kissing his jaw. "Don't worry, love," he said into the shell of Stede's ear. "I'll take care of you."
 
Ed planted his feet on the bed, grabbing Stede by the hips as he tilted his own up. Then he was moving inside Stede, slowly at first, but he picked up the pace quickly, knowing he couldn't last much longer. Already, he could feel that tightly coiling pleasure in his gut, ready to be unspooled. Stede caught his lips in another filthy, open-mouthed kiss.
 
Ed changed the angle of Stede's hips when he brought them down, and Stede's eyes rolled back. "Fuck yes! Right there!" And then Ed was hammering home, giving Stede everything he could while Stede shouted his name, the sound of skin slapping loud in the room.
 
Stede's nails dug into Ed's shoulders as he came in spurts across Ed's chest, hips stuttering and whole body trembling as he collapsed against Ed. Ed felt Stede's muscles squeeze around him and bear down as the other man tipped over the edge, and the added pressure sent Ed tumbling over it a moment after.
 
They stayed like that until they could finally catch their breath. Then Ed slowly pulled out of Stede, nudging him over to the head of the bed.
 
Sure that Stede was sore and tired, Ed helped himself to Stede's bathroom to clean up, bringing Stede a clean, damp washcloth as well and taking it away when he was done.
 
Stede's eyes were closed when Ed made his way back to the bedroom. He looked like he'd all but melted into the bed. He must have been beyond tired. It had been quite an ordeal, after all.
 
His eyes snapped open when Ed walked into the bedroom, gaze inexplicably shy when Ed climbed back into bed with him.
 
"Hi," Ed said, unable to stop smiling.
 
"Hi," Stede echoed, looking at him in awe.
 
"Feel better?" Ed teased, settling on his side to look at him.
 
"Much." Stede shifted on his side to mirror Ed. "That was..."
 
"Fun?"
 
"Crazy," Stede said, eyes tracking over every detail of Ed's face. "And very, very good."
 
Ed beamed at him. "I'm glad to hear it. It was very, very good for me too. Hopefully next time it won't be under such dire circumstances."
 
Stede scooted a bit closer, tangling their legs together. "So... there's gonna be a next time, then?" he asked, quiet. He almost looked nervous. Like he was unsure what Ed would say.
 
Ed scooted even closer, needing to feel Stede's warmth like he needed air to breathe. "If you'll have me."
 
Stede scoffed softly. "Of course I will."
 
As Ed looked at Stede -- soft and sated and beautiful -- Ed felt his heart break apart and form into something entirely new, and braver than he'd ever been before. "Mate, can I be honest with you for a sec? In a way that might ruin everything?"
 
Stede gave him a rueful little smile. "Ed, I think we're well beyond that."
 
Ed chuckled at his own words being thrown back at him. "Yes, I suppose that's true." His brows knit together, serious for a moment as he reached out and brushed a bit of honeyed hair away from Stede's face, letting his hand rest on his cheek. "I've sort of been in love with you... since basically the day we met," he admitted, swiping his thumb across Stede's cheekbone.
 
"Oh." Stede blinked. "Good."
 
"Good?"
 
"Because I feel the exact same way."
 
Ed grinned "Really?"
 
Stede caught Ed's wrist, moving his hand from his cheek so he could turn and kiss Ed's palm. "I love you, Edward. I have for years."
 
Ed's heart was so full it felt like it might burst. All he could do was pull Stede close and kiss him. All he wanted was to pretend that he never had to let Stede go as they started the next part of their lives together.
 
There was a soft click, and then the buzzing that had long since become white noise stopped, the plug dying on Stede's bedroom floor.
 
"You've got to be fucking kidding me."
 
And Ed laughed, and kissed him, and made filthy promises to buy him something even better.