Page 6 of Love Limits

That got Zhong thinking about ears. Ears were weird, too. Any body part was, really, once you started thinking about it. Toes. Noses. Nipples, at least on men.

He switched to Dustin’s other nipple and gave it a sharp tug, eliciting a wave of motion against him. He did it again, amused.

Dustin’s arm was moving fast now. Zhong leaned over to his ear and gave the lobe a little kiss. Why did ears have lobes anyway? And why did Dustin like this so much?

He let out little puffs of air, feeling Dustin shiver in his arms. That made Zhong feel warm inside. He kissed Dustin’s ear again. Zhong liked kisses sometimes.

Dustin started breathing harder, shaking and pumping his whole body. It was kind of exciting that Zhong could do this for him, help make him feel so good.

All at once, Dustin’s body arched away from him, and then went still.

Zhong pressed his hand over Dustin’s heart, feeling it beat through his ribs while little shivers continued racing through him. That was the best part.

After a moment, Dustin shifted some things around, probably throwing the sticky handkerchief on the floor, and then turned over.

He clung to Zhong, their arms tight around each other and Dustin’s breath rapid on his neck. Zhong loved this bit, the satisfied exhaustion and the clingy closeness at the end of sex.

He patted Dustin’s hair, feeling tender and happy. He dropped a kiss on Dustin’s forehead, and when Dustin looked up, placed another on his soft, closed lips. Dustin’s eyes were sweet and sleepy, his face blissful and relaxed.

Zhong felt a little justified in his experiment, since he’d made Dustin feel good.

On the whole, though, not something that he ever wanted to base a relationship on.

How was that? Dustin signed with one lazy hand.

About the same as before. I liked the end part.

Dustin rolled his eyes. You mean the part after it was over. Did you get the data you needed?

Yes. Unfortunately. Not that he’d really thought he’d changed, but he’d kind of hoped.

Dustin snuggled into his arms, and Zhong flipped onto his back so that Dustin could get comfortable beside him. Dustin often wasn’t tired after sex, but tonight he appeared to be, because his eyes were closed and his breath started to even out.

Zhong pressed the I love you sign into his shoulder, wiggling it enough for Dustin to feel the shape of the two curled fingers and three fingertips. Dustin nodded his head in agreement and made the same sign on Zhong’s chest.

Dustin’s exhaustion seemed to be contagious, because Zhong felt himself nodding off, too. He reached over and flicked off the lamp.

It felt nice to be home, even if it wasn’t his home anymore.

Now he just needed to replicate this with someone else.

Chapter 2

Ash

Ash felt another buzz in their pocket but resolutely ignored it.

Usually they would check it. They weren’t technically supposed to use their phone at work, except when they used Live Transcribe for conversations that they couldn’t speech read. Personal calls and messages were supposed to be saved for breaks, but the nurse supervisor usually looked the other way if it was quick and not in front of patients.

Either way, they were ignoring it. They didn’t want to know.

They forced a smile onto their face and poked their head into the next room.

“Something wrong?” Mr. Isling asked. Ash made out his shaky words through a combination of speech reading and clues from his hearing aids.

Mr. Isling was rail thin and his hands trembled too much to pick up a spoon most days. He was one of Ash’s favorite patients.

Of course he’d noticed something was off.