Chapter 29

Lennon pulled Ben in for another kiss and ran his fingers along the skin that had once been so familiar to him. He used to know all the spots that would get Ben going. Had those been real? Ben gasped when Lennon brushed his fingers across the hard nub of his nipples, so that was still the same. He whimpered when Lennon brought his mouth down to nibble along his collarbone, too, even though Lennon was careful not to leave any marks.

Ben had a few new marks without Lennon’s intervention, some of which made Lennon wince. He had an unwholesome-looking scar across his belly, faded to white now and too jagged to have been surgical. Lennon licked across it, and he kissed the obvious bullet wound in his lover’s shoulder. There were others that hadn’t been there before too; cigarette burns, deep cuts, smaller cuts that fit the pattern for shrapnel. Lennon kissed them all.