Here's to love!

So I'm not an American, but I'm thrilled at the SCOTUS decision that was handed down today! I live in a country where marriage equality has been the law of the land for over a decade, and I truly believe we are far better for it as a people. I'm excited that the minds and hearts of my neighbours to the south are opening up and more people are seeing that love doesn't have to conform to one single pattern in order to be legitimate and beautiful. So, in honour of the ruling, here's a snippet about love:

From Arcadian's Balm:

Tomis let the door slam behind him. When he saw Gevaril sitting by the fire pit, he felt his fists clench.
The curly-haired man regarded him calmly, cocking his head as if he were simply curious.
Pain swelled in Tomis’s chest, a writhing, pulsing ball of hurt and humiliation that went back six long, painful years. His eyes stung. His throat grew tight.
Gevaril rose in a graceful movement. He opened his hands, palms up. “Have at ‘er, Red.” He stepped forward. “Fuck me or throw that punch you been wanting to throw. I’ll take either.”
Even as he felt his arm lift, Tomis knew which one he’d chosen. He grabbed the other man’s shoulder roughly, staring into those piercing blue eyes he’d once believed held every good thing in life.
The corner of Gevaril’s finely-formed mouth quirked in that arrogant way it always had. Tears blurring his vision, Tomis shoved his former lover backward and felt himself drop to his knees. He curled against the pain in his belly, though it was nothing compared to the pain that went deeper.
How could he do it? How could he love someone who had torn his heart out?
Strong-fingered hands traced over his wet face. Tomis trembled as calloused thumbs brushed the tears from beneath his eyes.
“We can get past this,” Gevaril murmured. “Truly, love, we can. It’s all still here, everything we’ve always felt, everything we wanted… it’s all still here. We can get it back.”
Tomis shook his head violently, feeling his queue smack against his shoulder. “It won’t be the same.”
Gevaril cupped Tomis’s face and delicately touched their foreheads together. “It won’t. But it can be good. Really good. I promise. Please, Red, we need to try. Let me show you I… please….”
Though his self-preservation instincts screamed for him to run, Tomis didn’t move. He couldn’t. He felt Gevaril’s tender touch burn into his skin as he breathed in his minty breath. Every nerve in his body was shimmering, fiercely attuned to his old lover.
He tried one more time. “F-fuck you.”
Gevaril’s lips pressed gently over his. “If you like. I seem to remember you enjoying it the other way, though.”
He was right, of course. Tomis loved getting fucked. He especially loved getting fucked by Gevaril, whose cock fit his ass with a sublime perfection he’d never felt before or after.
His cock was rock-hard, his loins on fire. Tomis realized that he was clutching at Gevaril’s arms. There was really nowhere else to go. Nothing else to do.
With a sob of surrender, he lunged forward against the man who had always held his heart, opening his mouth, sucking hard on the bigger man’s tongue. The sleek texture was everything he remembered.
“Red… oh, my Red….” Gevaril nipped at Tomis’s jaw before unerringly finding the cord in his neck where the right pressure could make him half mad.
Groaning, Tomis laced his fingers through his lover’s curls. Gev.
Somewhere in the haze of passion, he realized that Gevaril had scrambled up and was yanking him to his feet as well. Tomis obeyed without question, lacing his arms around the stronger man’s neck and letting Gevaril grasp and lift his thighs. He wrapped his legs tightly round his lover’s waist, moaning in pleasure at the feel of their hard cocks pressed together, even though the fabric of their clothing was still between them.
For the first time in six years, Tomis was carried to bed.