He said it almost in a whisper, as if he didn't really believe what he was saying himself. I just stared at him. Was this even true? Maybe he had misunderstood something my dad had said? Nathan sat wide-eyed and Florian did a victory whistle and pounded Ash hard in the back. But Ash just stood there and looked at me.

"What... why?" I stuttered, incapable of believing that what my dad had said could actually be correct.

"I don't know," he said breathlessly. "Frank said he didn't have the details yet... but I'm... free. Completely free."

As if the words made him suddenly realize the fact himself, he broke free from his paralysis and pulled me into an intense embrace, right in front of everyone in the cafeteria. But I didn't care in the slightest anymore, this was bigger than any fucking embarrassment or feeling for what was decent or not. Ash was free. What had happened to make Keith suddenly change his mind, really?

"What do you think happened?" I said when he let me go.

"I don't really give a shit right now," he grinned happily.

And he actually had a point. That made it easy for me to turn off my perpetual overthinking, I could just look at him and all the analyzing disappeared. It was as if his gorgeous blue eyes were shining, the relief and joy in them was so strong that it washed over me, and I let myself drown in it completely. Who the hell cared?

"Now I'm the one throwing a party at Cupid's tonight," Florian proclaimed firmly. "It's Friday after all, and this calls for a celebration. Nathan, your presence is mandatory."

He narrowed his eyes at Nathan, who until then had been sitting with his mouth open in disbelief. Nathan looked miserable and shook his head.

"Thanks, but I'm not really in the mood, as you can probably guess," he muttered.

"Bullshit," Florian dismissed, waving his hand. "Yes, you are worrying. But you do that much better in company than alone. You are going. Or I'll have Ash drag you there by your ear, understand?"

Nathan seemed to be completely freaked out by Florian's threat and just nodded.

"And you're invited too," Florian continued, smiling at Chris.

It was impossible for me not to smile at Chris's lightning-quick nod. He probably thought Florian would scold him too if he declined, but I couldn't for the life of me see him sitting at a table at Cupid's Den. It would certainly be interesting if he actually ventured there. He looked uncertainly at me and then at his phone.

"We... have to get back," he said hesitantly. "You know, work, Jack?"

I nodded and squeezed Ash's hand. The rest of the day could go any way it wanted; it didn't matter. Ash was free and for the first time in my life, I was genuinely happy to go out. There was no nervousness, no anxiety or fear of not fitting in. I wanted to go to Cupid's Den, and I wanted to do it as myself. Nothing hidden anymore.

***

On the way home, I got a text from Zoey telling me to tell Ash that she was so happy for him. Our dad had probably called her in a hurry too, he had a tendency to call around as soon as something went well for his job. When I delivered her greeting, Ash asked me to invite both her and Daniel and when I asked in surprise why, he looked up in the air and shrugged.

"They helped Nathan when... I wasn't there," he finally said, looking at me almost embarrassed. "Kinda feels like the right thing to do. Besides, I like them. Should we invite your parents too, do you think they wanna come?"

WHAT?

I stopped him in the middle of the sidewalk with a hand on his arm. There had to be some fucking limit to his hospitality. My sister I could put up with, she was open-minded and would have no problem whatsoever going to Cupid's, but my parents were another matter entirely.

"You think I want my parents there?" I said in amazement. "Okay, maybe they'd think it would be a lot of fun, but I don't fucking want them there, you have to understand that, right? I'd feel... inhibited."

Ash grinned at me, and his eyes flashed with interest. He stroked a finger along my chin.

"So, you're planning on being uninhibited tonight? Well, I wouldn't want to stop that. Absolutely no parents."

I smiled in relief, but at the same time I realized that Ash's idea of what uninhibited meant was probably quite different from my own. What did he think I was going to do tonight anyway? He was simply going to have to be disappointed, because even though I wanted to show up there as who I was, I wasn't going to overdo it, no matter how much Ash probably wanted me to let go of every single one of my inhibitions. One step at a time, plain and simple.

When we got home, Ash wanted to shower first, explaining that he was doing a lot more physical work than I was, but I protested. I didn't want to sit and wait forever for him to finish, when I could get dressed and play games freshly showered while he had barely turned on the tap. Christ, the guy took forever in the shower. Eventually Ash had given in with a shrug and I walked into the bathroom relieved. But I'd only been in the shower for a few minutes when I heard the door open.

"I'm gonna keep you company," I heard Ash say and the next thing I knew the cabin door was pulled open and he stepped into the shower, with jeans, t-shirt and all.

I had time to think that he obviously wasn't that worried about his clothes, before he pushed me up with my back against the tiling and smiled eagerly. He took a gentle grip on my chin as his glowing blue gaze slid over my body.

"Have I ever told you how sexy you are with wet hair?" he said, meaningfully pressing his crotch against me. "And that when you mouth off to me, it makes me fucking horny?"

Then he kissed me, his tongue playing over my lips and the smooth ball of his piercing sliding up along the underside of my tongue. There was a rush of desire in me, piercing right down to my cock and suddenly I didn't care about the party at all anymore, I grabbed his wet t-shirt and tried to wrestle it off him, but it clung to his body like glue and I grunted in frustration. I felt his smirk against my lips.

"Now what do you think you're doing?" he cooed. "You're taking a shower, nothing else."

"You're making it damn hard for me in that case."

He turned me around abruptly, so I was facing the tile.

"I guess I'll have to help you then. Stand still, hands on the wall."

Arousal buzzed in me, I could still feel his hardening cock against my ass through the wet jeans fabric but did as he said, and he reached for the body wash. With calm, methodical movements he began to wash me, and I reveled in the soft touch. He was thorough, not leaving an inch of my skin untouched by his hands.

"It's nice to have you this close," Ash murmured as he slid across my nipples, and I drew in a sharp breath. "So I can just jump you whenever I feel like it. Do whatever I want with you..."

"And you choose to wash me," I couldn't help but tease.

The pain as he pinched my nipples hard made me squirm, but the sensation just built on my already scorching desire for him and my hard cock rubbed against the tile, making me moan. Ash grabbed my hair tightly and bent my head back.

"And wash your hair too. Close your eyes."

I had never thought hair washing could be a turn-on, but when Ash started massaging shampoo into my tresses, my knees began to buckle under me. His fingers slid over my scalp in small, circular motions, down to my neck and then back up to the hairline on my forehead, all the while he pressed himself against me so that I could feel his cock hardening more and more. I was breathing heavily, I wanted so badly to turn around and just throw myself at him, but he might just end up stopping and leaving me there, out of sheer spite. So, I held still and when he rinsed out the shampoo I whimpered quietly.

"Ash... please."

He suddenly grabbed my arms and locked them behind my back and sank his teeth into my neck and just the feel of his bite drove me out of my mind.

"Yes, pet, what do you want?" he growled low.

"Bite... harder," I panted, unable to keep my breathing steady.

He hummed with satisfaction and the pain as he bit down for real radiated out in me, he pressed my arms tighter against my back and I rolled my hips desperately against him, I wanted him now, right fucking now, couldn't he understand that? He pushed his thigh between my legs.

"That's gonna leave quite a mark," he mused, and I could hear how pleased he was over that fact. "You like it when I leave marks on you?"

His one hand stroked down between my groin and the wall and grabbed my craving cock and I shuddered with pleasure at his firm touch.

"Don't need an answer to that, I see," he continued and nibbled my earlobe. "My horny little masochist."

"Christ, please f-fuck me," I choked, dizzy with desire and the lingering pain of his wonderful bite.

He spanked my ass.

"If I were to fuck you now, you wouldn't be able to walk properly at the party. And I want you to be able to do that. So be patient."

Then he turned me around and grinned wickedly. I could only stare at him in pure and utter dismay, he couldn't just leave me like this, right on the edge, could he? He cocked his head and watched me as he slowly slid his index finger along my lower lip.

"Oh, kitten..." he murmured softly and began to stroke his other hand up and down my shaft. "When you look at me like that, I just can't resist you..."

I moaned loudly in both relief and pleasure as he quickened his motions, his hard erection grinding against my hip as he reached for my ass with his other hand, one finger sliding along the rim, then slowly pushing inside. I clung to him convulsively, completely caught up in the growing wave inside me, and I buried my face in the small of his neck. He began to thrust his finger inside my hole, teasing with his fingertip at that wonderful spot each time.

"You'll be all fresh and newly hand-fucked when you go to the party," he growled in my ear. "You'll thank me for that later tonight, won't you?"

"Y-yes... I promise," I panted, and my legs began to quiver beneath me.

"Mhm... good boy. Your tight little ass is squeezing my finger real fucking nice right now, you know that? So nice that I'm gonna give you another mark."

His tongue licked along my throat and suddenly he bit down, sucking hard, while his thumb circled rapidly over the head of my cock and the mix of pain and pleasure made me cum in a sudden cry of ecstasy. The orgasm surged through me, and he didn't release his bite until I stood shivering, leaning against the tile, panting for breath. How could he just know so precisely what made me cum? I was just as fascinated every time. It was like he had some form of pleasure map over my body in his head. He looked down at me smiling, the black strands of his hair dripping with water.

"Happy now?"

I grinned ecstatically at him and pulled him into a frenzied kiss.

"Yes," I beamed, but then I was reminded of his very obvious erection. "But you...?"

He pushed his wet hair away from his forehead and began to peel off his soaked clothes.

"You know I like to draw it out," he said, winking. "Now get out, I wanna take a shower."

I left him in the shower and after I dried off, I went into the bedroom and stood looking into the closet. Being myself, only without restraints, what was that really? I had never even thought about it until now, before I had just wanted to blend into the background so that no one noticed me, so no one got the idea to start talking to me. But that wasn't really who I was. I was more than that. Ash had managed to spot me anyway, no matter how much I wanted to appear invisible in my hoodie.

Tonight, I didn't want to wear a fucking hoodie. Tonight, I felt like being seen. I wanted to be seen for once. So, I dug out my combat pants and pulled them on and without even thinking why, I put on the tight, white t-shirt with the 'Daddy's boy' print. The first time I'd worn it, it had felt incredibly forbidden and dirty, but now it just felt right. People could interpret it however they wanted; I knew what it stood for.

When I tried unsuccessfully to get my hair in some kind of order in front of the bedroom mirror, my eyes landed on the stuff hanging on the top of the mirror. My collar and the cat ears. I looked at myself in the mirror.

Admit it. You wanna wear both, don't you? Then do it!

Why stop halfway? I made the decision in a split second and fastened my collar and felt that strangely safe feeling again. Finally, I put the cat ears in place. I managed to hide the diadem with my hair and at last faced myself in the mirror again. It was like something tightened in my chest, but in a good way. A feeling I hardly knew I could have, but now it was there and there was no doubt about it. I felt damn proud of myself. Of whom I was. A sudden laugh bubbled up inside me and I couldn't hold it in.

"What are you laughing at?" I heard Ash ask in surprise, and then he came into the bedroom.

I turned to him and smiled. His eyes sparked with excitement, and he looked me up and down and hooked his thumbs into the waistband of my pants.

"You're making it really fucking hard for me to behave right now," he grinned. "Please tell me you're gonna wear that to Cupid's?"

"I'll wear this to Cupid's," I assured him.

"The collar too?"

There was anticipation in his voice. Both he and I knew exactly what that meant. I met his gaze steadily and nodded. I was going as me tonight. And going as myself also meant showing that I belonged to him.

***

: A picture of Jamie with his cat ears can be seen in the *bonus* chapter (between chap. 42 and 44)! Link in comments.