HJ Mack and Zach's story - chapter 17 - azalea

Zach and I wave Karina and Colin goodbye; they had been over for dinner at our apartment and the evening had gone well as it always does with them. They’re honestly such lovely people, and they care for Zach so much.

It’s nice, because they’ve always made an effort to get to know me, and it makes me frustrated that my own family wants nothing to do with Zach. But hey, one set of accepting parents is better than none.

Zach rests his head on my shoulder, smiling gently. “I’m fairly certain that they really like you, by the way. I know that you still worry about that sometimes,” he says tenderly, reaching a hand up to stroke my cheek.

I lean in to his touch, closing my eyes for a moment and just letting myself feel comfortable and calm. When I open my eyes again, Zach is still standing next to me patiently, stroking my cheek and smiling brightly.

Snaking my arm around his waist, I kiss his forehead. Zach beams at me, pressing a light kiss to my lips, his smile still evident.

We get ready for bed together, our routine familiar after all the time we’ve been a cohabiting couple. We settle down at each other’s sides, Zach’s arm draped over my waist whilst I stroke through his hair.

“I love you,” my boyfriend whispers, his gaze holding mine in a way which is lovely and rarely ever uncomfortable anymore. I return his smile, leaning in to kiss him gently. “I love you too.”

Zach smiles softly, kissing me again. His hand strokes across my waist, his fingers slipping beneath my shirt ever so slightly, but not moving. He’s asking for permission like he always does. He’s being careful not to make me uncomfortable.

Smiling into the kiss, I nod slightly, my own fingers gliding across his jaw as we kiss. He traces circles into my waist before his hand slowly moves lower to my hip. Again, he stops moving, but he pulls away from the kiss, looking me right in the eyes.

“What kind of mood are you in?” He asks gently, his eyes kind. I raise an eyebrow, leaning in to peck him on the lips quickly. “Do you want to have sex?” I ask, watching Zach’s expression. He nods after a moment before asking “do you?”

I think about it, make sure that I don’t just blindly say yes; we had to be careful with this in the beginning, I would sometimes find it hard to tell if I was actually in the mood or if I just wanted to be in the mood.

But by now, I know myself well enough. And honestly, Zach knows me well enough too. He can always tell if I’m not 100% feeling it, and he’s very good at stopping and talking to me about it. The fragile passion between us has always been breakable like an azalea, something which we are careful to protect and keep safe, something that we don’t want to push to breaking point. So when I nod, whispering “yes,” I know that he can tell I’m telling the truth.

After that, we just end up in a mess of Zach giggling every five seconds when I accidentally tickle his waist when I just mean to hold him, and his laughs are infectious so before not too long, I’m laughing along too.

To be honest, this happens around 40% of the time when we have sex because the longer we go on, the more Zach starts just laughing for no reason, and it’s seriously the most adorable thing. I chuckle into our kiss slightly, Zach’s hand resting ever so gently on my neck, slowly tracing lines up and down in a soothing motion.

I move down slightly, kissing across Zach’s chest and listening with a slight smirk when he stops laughing to bite back a moan instead. As if sensing my smugness, Zach tangles his fingers in my hair and gently pulls me back up to his lips.

He doesn’t kiss me however, instead he just smirks and pushes himself down on me slightly. I bite my lip to stop a sound slipping out before he finally kisses me and I bite his lip instead. That only makes him laugh again though before he asks me to actually start moving.

Rolling my eyes, I kiss his forehead gently. “I was too busy kissing you, gosh you’re so demanding,” I say sarcastically, knowing that Zach can tell I’m joking. He just leans up to kiss me again. “Oh come on, you can do both at the same time right?”

I just laugh before doing as he asks - I’m a good multitasker it turns out. But it’s not like I didn’t know I could do these two things at once already; this is pretty much how every love-making session with Zach goes.

We just laugh, kiss, joke around and eventually we’ll each have our climaxes and then at the end, we’ll cuddle up together again and fall asleep in each other’s arms. It’s fun and relaxing, and I like knowing that Zach is enjoying himself too.

And I’m fairly certain he is, because he always tells me how he’s feeling, what he likes and what he doesn’t.

Eventually we curl up together again, Zach spooning me like he does sometimes, his hand holding mine where it rests over my abdomen. He snuggles up against my back, pressing a light kiss to my neck and squeezing my hand.

I turn back to look at him slightly, just so he can see my smile. I know he sees it, because his own expression turns even softer and warmer in return.

My gosh, I seriously love him so much.