Page 46 of Made to Be

“Find the lube, get the sex cuffs off, and make bread together.” I said aloud like a mantra in my attempt to focus.

Wow, it wasn’t every day those three things were said together. Cam’s amused laugh followed me as I pulled him back into my office. Opening the drawer, I ignored the dildos and snatched out the bottle of lube. Then my joy slid from my face as I realized...

“Fuck. Empty.” I sighed heavily toward the ceiling, mentally cursing my extremely active libido.

Cam plucked the bottle out of my hand. “Did you use all of your lube, Victor?” he practically purred. He clicked his tongue in teasing admonishment with a shake of his head.

“Yeah, yeah,” I swatted him playfully across the stomach.

He didn’t even budge, his rock-hard abdominal muscles protecting him from my weak attack. We proceeded to check around the rest of the house where I was likely to keep lube secretly stashed away – the bathroom, my bedroom, even the living room because who knew with me – but there was no more lube to be found.

“You know,” Cam began, “we could just... take off my arm. That way the cuffs would be off one of us.”

I shook my head vehemently. “I amnotcutting off your arm! No way. It’s finally healed. It still has its little outbursts...” Understatement. The last outburst had been just this morning when the now sentient hand had clung to mine, making it quite the challenge to work on my unlocking-slash-de-hexing spells. “But, if we remove it again, who’s to say it won’t reattach?”

I patted his arm, “Out of the question. We’ll try lube. We just need to go to the store,” I told him as I grabbed my wallet and car keys off the table. “It’s definitely worth a shot.”

Cam leaned into my space and his warm breath made me shiver. “You just want to buy more lube for your toys.”

My lips twitched.Among other things,I thought.

“As long as we don’t use it all up with these,” I shook the cuffs, “then I’ll be more than happy to share with you,” I flirted.

“How generous.” Cam’s smile grew wide, whether in invitation or challenge I wasn’t aware. But I was desperate to find out.

***

Because it was well after ten o’clock, the twenty-four-hour convenience store nestled just outside of Briarwood was blessedly empty.

I was basically an expert at climbing over the center console of my car at this point, so it wasn’t too much of a hassle getting in and out. Plus, Cam helped me like the gentleman that he was. He was even still holding my hand as he held the shop’s glass door open for me, and we strode into the small building. The chime rang above our heads, but the cashier behind the counter didn’t bother lifting his gaze from the book he was reading. He lazily licked a finger as he turned the page, entirely oblivious to our presence.

Already knowing where to go, I steered Cam past the meager snack isles before reaching the furthest one. We passed the cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, and other such items until we reached the very back corner. There we were presented with a shelf of boxes of condoms displaying multiple brands and sizes. Right next to bottles of lube.

I deliberately kept my eyes from lingering on the condoms, already knowing Cam would need the largest size, and scanned the selection. Which wasn’t much of a selection, if I was being honest. Usually pretty well-stocked, this section was picked clean. All that remained were the flavored brands: strawberry, watermelon, cherry, mango, caramel, chocolate, cotton candy, and lollipop.

Cam reached out and picked a bottle with little red cherries on it.

I eyed him curiously but didn’t comment. I also didn’t comment on the way his eyes flickered over the condoms for the briefest moment before his cheeks stained pink and we left the aisle aiming for the checkout counter.

As we approached, I could just make out the cover of the novel the cashier was reading.

It was a gay erotica novel.

How did I know this? Well, with two half-naked beefcake men on the front cover entwined in a rather romantic embrace, it was hard to believe it was anything else. Its edges were well-worn and many, many pages were dog-eared. Even the title was enticing.

“69 Shades of Us”.

I pinned that in my brain for later. Half of my collection at home was gay erotica and I was always eager to add to it.

When Cam placed the bottle onto the counter, the man’s eyes finally lifted from his spicy novel. Then widened. The book fell to the counter with a thud as the man openly stared.

“Sweet Jesus on toast,” he muttered then gave Cam a broad smile. If he didn’t stop eyeing my man up like he was a premium cut steak I was going to dump this cherry lube all over stupid head and damn the consequences.

“Hi there,” he continued. “Will this be...”

He trailed off as he noticed the bottle of lube, then the cuffs joining me and Cam’s clasped hands. His eyes trailed up Cam’s frame hungrily, then over to me and brightened even more. I nearly cringed.

When he leaned over the counter on his forearms, Cam gently but firmly tugged me back a step.