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“Isn’t it wonderful?” Stede asked, twirling in front of the mirror. He was so busy enjoying all the sparkles it took him a moment to realize he hadn’t gotten an answer, not even the soft jingle of the bell. “Ed?”
Stede turned to see Ed staring at him, eyes wide, mouth open.
“Huh?” Ed asked absentmindedly, eyes still large.
“The suit, isn’t it lovely?” Stede opened the suit jacket to reveal underneath. “And the shirt is very nice. Soft.”
“Uh-huh.” Still staring. Directly at Stede’s chest, if he wasn’t mistaken. There might have even been drool. Stede clapped his hands in front of Ed’s face, seemingly snapping him out of it. He shook his head clear.
“Really, Ed, what’s wrong with you?”
“You, uh, you just look, uh…” Ed trailed off, his eyes floating slowly down the suit. They went back up but only to go back down again.
Before Stede could try to snap him out of it once more, the door to his cabin burst open, Jim flying through.
“Oh, thank God, you’re still alive!” Jim exclaimed, rushing toward Stede.
“I’ve told you, Ed wouldn’t hurt me,” Stede answered, turning back to the mirror. In the reflection, he could see Ed shift, and stare at the floor. Jim stood well away from him.
“No, not him,” Jim said irritably, motioning their head toward Ed. “The suit.”
“Oh, Jim, not this again!”
Jim was already shaking their head and hurrying to stand between him and the mirror so they could have his full attention. He still snuck glances past them, though.
“No, no, you have to listen to me,” and they held up an old, tattered book with a title handwritten in Spanish that Stede didn’t understand. Stede rolled his eyes. The whole curse thing was getting out of control.
“This is silly, there’s no such thing as curses,” Stede carefully placed his hands on Jim’s shoulders. “Everything is fine. Now if you don’t mind.” He tried to move them out of the way, but Jim held firm.
“This is serious, Captain,” and there was something in their voice. And Jim rarely called him Captain.
“Stede, you might want to listen,” Ed piped up, worry evident in his voice.
Stede heaved a deep sigh, “Very well, what is it?”
Jim opened the book and pointed to a line on one of the pages. It was upside down and in Spanish, so Stede really did not understand what it meant.
“The priest wrote in this book that any time anyone wore the suit they died.” Jim was frantically poking at the page as they spoke before looking up to Stede with worry. “And it’s a horrible death.”
“What?” Stede was incredulous. It was just a suit. Just fabric. Lovely, velvet fabric.
“And before they died, they got really…uh…” Suddenly Jim stopped, looking away from Stede.
“Really what?” Ed asked, standing, brow furrowed.
Jim mumbled something. Stede turned his head and cocked his ear out like that would help him hear better, “What was that?”
Jim took a deep breath of their own, “Horny.”
A shocked silence fell over the three of them. But after a moment Stede let out a laugh, looked over to Ed. But he was met with a look of deep concern.
“How’d they die?” Ed asked. He wasn’t looking at Jim, he was looking at Stede. He looked down at the suit, but not the way he had been before.
“Ed, you can’t possibly believe…” Stede started to argue, but Ed shook his head, held up his hand for him to stop.
“Jim?” Stede could hear the shake in his voice. This time he did look at Jim.
Jim seemed to think about it for a moment, looked at Stede, at Ed. Right in the eyes. Everything else that had happened between them suddenly fell away.
“Badly. Painfully.”
“Shit,” Ed whispered, grabbing Stede’s wrist like he could keep him from the curse. He pulled Stede closer, wrapped his arm around him.
“There’s no curse, Ed!” Stede tried to argue. As much as he loved having Ed so close, this was bordering on the ridiculous.
“What do we do?” Ed ignored him, eyes wild. “How do we stop it?”
Jim looked back down at the book, flipped through it absently, stalling.
“Well, uh, the priest seemed to think,” Jim paused. Deep breath. Whispered. “Fucking.”
Stede froze. He could feel Ed freeze next to him. Jim was red, face pinched like they were in physical pain. Stede stumbled out some vowels, sounds that might have been words.
“Okay,” Ed was steady, sure. He turned his back to Stede. “Can you untie this, love?” Indicating the tie at the back of his sackcloth
“ Ay, Dios mío , wait until I’m out of the room!” Jim yelled, covering their eyes as they ran to the door, slamming it shut on the way out. There was a quiet beat before the door opened again and Jim stuck their head back in. “And please, for the love of us, take the cat collar off. We don’t need to hear that.”
They shut the door with a sharp click, leaving Stede and Ed alone again. Stede stared at the closed door for a moment, trying to understand what had just happened.
“Stede?” Stede turned back to Ed at the sound of his name. “The ties, babe.”
“Um,” Stede wasn’t sure what he was going to even say. So, he lifted his hands and dumbly untied the back of Ed’s clothes.
“Thanks,” Ed replied, stripping the sackcloth off in one fluid motion. He turned back to Stede with a smile. “Oh!” He reached up again, undoing the cat collar. It softly jingled as he set it down on the nearby table.
“Um,” Stede tried again. Nothing.
Ed lifted his hand to cradle Stede’s face, thumb rubbing over his cheek. His smile never faltered as he leaned forward to press a soft kiss to Stede’s trembling lips. Stede took a deep breath through his nose, his shoulders relaxing as he pushed it back out. Hands automatically went to Ed; one on his bare arm, the other on the nape of his neck.
Ed gave a soft moan before pressing closer, chest to chest. Stede could feel the heat of him through the suit, the shirt, the ether. He could feel it down to his bones. It made him shiver. Ed’s hands trailed down his flank, to his hips. Squeezed the flesh they found there.
Finally, Stede was able to find words as he pulled away, “We don’t have to.”
“Can’t let you die, can I?”
Stede felt his heartache. That’s not why he wanted to do this. It shouldn’t be because of some curse that may or may not exist.
“I don’t want to just because some dead priest said we had to,” Stede tried to shuffle further from Ed, but the hold on his hips only got harder.
“Good,” Ed replied, “I don’t either.”
He kissed Stede again, bit down on his bottom lip, ran his tongue where it started to fatten up. It wasn’t the only thing to fatten up.
“Wanted you the second I saw you in this,” Ed let go of one hip to tug on the lapel of the jacket. That had been quite clear. But, still, it was nice to hear.
“Oh?” Stede smiled. “Really?”
“Well, I mean,” Ed seemed to blush, a light pink grazing the apples of his cheeks, “before that.”
Stede laughed, but Ed remained unmoved. Serious. It shouldn’t surprise him and yet somehow it did.
“When?” Stede asked, still not quite believing it was possible that Ed wanted him now, let alone before.
This time Ed did laugh. He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.”
He leaned close to kiss Stede again but was rebuffed. Stede moved his head back, out of the way, and pined Ed with a look.
“No, no,” this time Stede was unmoved. “When?”
Ed sighed, ran one hand over the skin of Stede’s chest. He looked down to where their flesh met before flicking his eyes back up.
“Why do you think Izzy was asking for you?” he still seemed unable to meet Stede’s eyes. And the implication hit Stede. Hard. He felt so incredibly stupid for a moment.
“You saving me wasn’t an accident, was it?” Stede asked, already knowing the answer. Should have known it in the first place. He really could be thick sometimes.
Ed shook his head, and whispered, “No.”
Stede felt a burst of joy in his chest, felt warm and safe and happy. Home. He never understood what that meant before. He thought it was just a house; a place to reside. And the whole time it was a person. A person he spent his whole life waiting for without ever knowing it. Before he would let himself cry, he brought his arms around Ed, hugging him closely.
“I love you.” Simple. Easy. Home. “You don’t have to say it back.”
Ed pulled away, eyes shining. He kissed Stede, slowly, slickly, longingly. And Ed’s hands were on him. Warm and broad and bruising. Pushing into flesh, pulling at clothes. And the world turned. Literally. Stede found himself pushed back onto the bed. Ed hovered over him, fingers popping open the buttons on Stede’s pants.
“How…how should we…?” Stede was in awe at the soft brown eyes that caught his, the curtain of soft salt and pepper hair that fell around him.
“Might have to keep the suit on,” Ed suggested, gravel in his voice. Something in Stede jumped, something deep and coiled. A snake ready to bite. A dam about to break.
“Yeah, okay, yeah,” Stede stuttered softly. Ed finished with the final buttons and slowly untucked the shirt from it. The soft fabric against Stede’s already heated skin sent shivers down his spine.
“For the curse,” Ed supplied. Stede nodded wildly.
“Yes, of course, the curse.” Stede was starting to believe more and more in the curse with every passing second. Because it felt like if he didn’t get Ed inside him he just might die.
Ed laid over him, pressed Stede down with his weight, nibbled on his earlobe. He released the flesh to whisper, “On your stomach, feet on the floor.”
“Fuck,” Stede gasped, head thrown back as far as it could go.
“That’s the idea.”
Stede tried to twist under him, but couldn’t quite make it. Ed reluctantly pushed himself to stand. Stede rolled onto his stomach, feet flat on the floor just as he’d been told. Ed bent back over him, heat against his back even through the thick layer of the jacket and shirt. Stede felt two hands against his shoulder blades, roaming down the soft fabric of the red coat, until it got to the hem where they stopped.
Slowly, Ed’s fingers slid down to the matching pants, digging in under the jacket to find the top. Stede buried his forehead into the mattress as he felt Ed tug the soft fabric down his hips, his thighs, his calves. He let out a deep moan when they pooled around his ankles.
“No underclothes?” Ed whispered, hands pushing the jacket tails out of the way. He moved his hands under the jacket, under the shirt, against the bare flesh of Stede’s spine. He kissed the small sliver of skin at the small of Stede’s back. “You're just full of surprises.” He reached around Stede’s hip and wrapped a hand around his already painfully hard cock. “You’ve been holding out on me, Bonnet.”
Stede let out a whine: part pathetic, part desperate. Ed shushed him, against the back of his ear, the sensitive skin behind it. Stede felt something hard against the back of his thigh. It left behind a trail of wetness in its wake.
Hands ran down his arms – squished as they were, barely him holding up – wrapped around his wrists. Ed pulled one slowly up, over his head before doing the same with his other arm. Ed pinned them in one hand. Stede had no choice but to plaster the side of his face against the mattress, breathing heavily.
“Stay,” Ed nipped at the hinge of his jaw, just about all he could reach with the angle. Stede didn’t even nod. He felt more than saw Ed reach above his head to the windowsill. Stede’s insides did a flip. There was a box there that held various accouterments. The pop of a vial topper made him squirm, rub his cock against the silk sheets below him.
An oil hand pressed against one ass cheek, kneading. It moved over slowly, closer to where Stede was desperate for it. The jacket felt suddenly ten times heavier and hotter, sweat rolled down his forehead, his nose. His arms already ached with how they strained to stay put. It was glorious.
“Ed,” Stede said, low so only the mattress could hear him. A finger found his hole, pushing in slowly. Stede tensed for a moment. Ed stopped, stooping low to kiss the plush fabric between his shoulder blades. A silent gesture that made Stede relax, the finger pushing up to the second knuckle.
“Ed,” louder this time. A laugh, low and heavy. His hands twisted in the sheets as the finger pushed in all the way. And then it twisted, bent, sparked. “HOLY FUCK.”
A sizzle of fusion in his bone marrow. Heat and light burned through him. His veins throbbed, his cock jumped, his heart stopped. A small galaxy brought to life. It was so much he hadn’t even noticed the second finger until it was already entirely inside of him. And pressed again, sending a bolt of lightning crackling under his skin.
“Ed, please, please,” Stede begged, pleaded, sobbed.
“Okay, yeah, okay,” Ed replied, just as overwhelmed. “One more.” And shoved in a third finger. It burned; it felt like heaven. He pumped it in and out half a dozen times. Stede whimpered. “It’s alright, baby,” Ed said on one thrust. “I’ve got you, baby.” He mumbled on another. Stede writhed through all of it.
“Ed!” Stede couldn’t take it anymore. He felt like a kettle just about to steam over. And Stede could hear the deep chuckle reverberate through Ed’s chest.
“Don’t worry, no dying of a curse,” Ed joked, but his voice sounded thick. Finally, finally, finally, he pulled his fingers out, lined his cock up.
“Although” Ed mused. “You know what the French call an orgasm?” Stede nodded his head against the sheets, could feel how wet with sweat they were. His shirt clung to him. The jacket felt like being inside an oven.
“La petite mort,” Stede gasped out. The head of Ed’s cock pushed through muscle, popping inside. “Oh fuck.”
“The little death,” Ed whispered, hands grasping at Stede’s hips, voice punched out. “So I guess that means the curse is real after all.”
“We’ll see,” Stede couldn’t help the bratty remark. But Ed laughed, laughed until it reverberated through the jacket and the shirt, and skin, into Stede’s chest where it settled against his ribs.
“Oh, we’ll see alright,” Ed was still laughing, pushing in, halfway now. He stopped, pulled back.
“Wait, where are you-” but Stede stopped short as Ed slid back in, deeper this time.
“Not going anywhere, love,” Ed said, breathing heavily against Stede’s neck. He rocked back out, back in. Out and back in. It was almost soothing if it didn’t make a spark of heat lick up Stede’s balls every time.
After several thrusts, Ed was fully inside but shifted and tried to push in further. Stede let out a cry when that spot was hit again with another drag out. Ed paused – cockhead the only part still inside – before barrelling back in, hard and sharp, forcing the air out of Stede’s lungs. Back out, shove back in. Over and over. Sometimes catching on whatever the hell made him light up like the sun.
“Fucking hell,” Ed said through gritted teeth. He pressed his forehead against the velvet covering Stede’s back, settled his weight on his forearms. And fucked Stede. Stede never really used that word before, didn’t really know what it meant.
Now he did.
Every thrust was solid, hard, and deep. All the way out at one point before fucking all the way back in. Stede could feel himself crying, calling out Ed’s name, clawing the sheets, twisting them in his grip. Until he felt a hand on his hip, directing him to bring them off the bed. Stede did as was suggested and was rewarded with a hot, calloused hand around his dick.
“Oh fuck,” Stede turned his head into the mattress, to the side, back into the mattress, to the other side. He felt like his insides were bubbling over. Too much heat, too little air in his lungs – punched out on every thrust – no way to regain himself.
Faster. Not pulling out as far. Hand gripping, finger running over his slit, twisting up and down. The thrusts were shorter but harder, bouncing him backward and forward, the bed creaking, the window rattling.
“Ed. Ed. Ed.” He could feel the wave cresting, so close, closer still, breaching. Until finally. Crash. Warmth spread from his groin out toward his extremities. Lava flowed through his veins. His fingers were white with the grip he had on the sheet. And Ed fucked him through it. Fucked him until he started to come down.
“Should I come inside you or on the jacket?” Ed asked hurriedly, not slowing down his rhythm. Stede couldn’t really understand the question, made a soft little noise instead, let Ed make of it what he would. Apparently, he did.
Ed thrust a handful of times before pulling out, taking himself in hand, only having to pump twice more before spilling on the back of the jacket in ropes that Stede wanted to feel against his skin.
“Maybe next time,” Ed replied to the words Stede hadn’t realized he’d spoken out loud. Ed grunted and fell down on his back beside Stede. “Fuck.”
Stede turned to look at him, he turned at the same time. They both smiled.
“Curse lifted, I think,” Stede shifted to his side, pressed up against Ed. Ed wrapped an arm around him, running the tips of his fingers over the ridiculous shoulder pads. “That was more than a little death, after all.”
Ed laughed, rubbed his nose against Stede’s. Kissed him softly. Hummed against his tongue as it poked its way inside his mouth. Met it with his own, teeth clacking. Ed pulled away, still smiling.
“I mean, we should be sure though,” Ed said. “Just in case.”
Stede hummed, played along, “And how would we do that?”
“You should come in me,” Ed replied without missing a beat. Stede felt himself flush, just as he was finally cooling off.
Stede cleared his throat.
“I guess it’s best to be sure.”