tyler spent the rest of the night with felix. he wanted to go talk to josh, really he did, but he was too afraid. afraid of what, exactly? he didn't quite know. maybe afraid of crying and making josh feel uncomfortable again... yeah, that was probably it.

it's a few hours after tyler has returned from the streets. he's been laying in bed the whole time, room dark and eyes heavy. however, he just can't seem to fall asleep. it has to be around 2 in the morning or somewhere close to that. tyler is so tired, but his thoughts keep him awake.

who is josh going to pick to be his new bottom? what if he picks tyler? surely, the other girls are going to be jealous and begin to dislike the boy. they're going to question why he was picked when he only recently joined the family.

but what if he doesn't pick tyler? what if he picks somebody else to spend most of his time with, to trust with his business, to have his back. would tyler be able to handle that? or would his sensitive ass get hurt and make him cry again?

tyler sighs, rolling into a new position for what felt like the five hundredth time that night. he tells himself to shut the fuck up and just fall asleep already. he tells himself he's being ridiculous and just needs to go the fuck to bed. the thing is, he's trying. nothing is working.

shoving the blankets off in frustration, tyler gets out of bed. the second his bare feet touch the floor, he hesitates. is he really going to do this?

he decides that, yes, he is, and quietly shuts the door as he exits his bedroom. after tiptoeing through the halls, tyler stands before the menacing double doors. should he knock? should he just go in? he can't tell if the light is on or not. what if he's asleep? should he wake him up?

after working himself up, tyler softly turns the doorknob. it's unlocked. he's relieved only slightly as he slowly swings the door open.

josh meets his eyes immediately, the man sat on his bed. he's reading a book, a black pair of frames resting against his nose. a lamp is turned on beside him, casting a warm glow throughout the room. tyler gulps, standing in the doorway awkwardly. now what?

"can't sleep?" josh asks, placing a sticky note on the page before shutting the book. he sets it aside, motioning for tyler to come closer.

"yeah," tyler says quietly, gently closing the door behind him. he approaches the man, twisting the end of his shirt between his fingers.

"something on your mind?" josh asks, standing.

tyler lies and shakes his head. "just can't fall asleep."

josh's lips curl the slightest bit, giving the younger butterflies. god, felix was right. josh is so charming.

"me neither," he murmurs, towering over tyler. "i think i know how to help you, though. do you trust me?"

tyler nods, slowly.

josh gingerly curls his fingers beneath the hem of tyler's shirt and removes it, letting it fall to the ground. he tells the boy to sit, pointing at a chair beside the bed. tyler complies, the fabric of the chair soft against his bare skin.

"close your eyes," josh hums, and tyler is quick to do so. "now, dear, i could do all kinds of things to you and with you. that might tire you physically, but what we want is to tire you mentally. let yourself relax and listen to my voice."

tyler nods, resting his head against the back of the chair. he already feels exhausted. just being in josh's presence is enough to comfort him into falling asleep.

"i'm not going to touch you," josh says, voice lowering as he kneels before the boy. "but i could. i'm sure you can imagine my fingers caressing your shoulder, softly trailing down to your wrist."

and tyler does, vividly. he swears he can feel the man's fingertips feathering against his skin, all the way down his arm.

"so did i touch you, or did you just imagine it? like i said, i'm not going to touch you, but i could. i'm right here with you and you have no idea what i want to do..."

tyler smiles softly, josh's voice lulling him into relaxation. the man's voice is so gentle, so deep. he's speaking so slowly, so softly. it's as if tyler is listening to a lullaby.

"i want to run my fingers down your neck. slowly, teasing... and the beauty of it is there would be nothing you could do about it. i suppose you could stop me, but you wouldn't want to. you like being teased."

tyler is both loving and hating this. he feels good inside and out, maybe a little too good. he might definitely have a hard-on right now, but hey, at least he feels like he could fall asleep at any given second.

"are you craving to be touched? is your skin tingling? i wonder what's going on inside your mind right now. i'm sure it's a wonderful place; imagining my fingernails trailing down your throat. do you like this little game? me telling you all the ways how i could touch you, and you imagining the touching. you know, there is a winner in this game. it will probably be you. see, the better you are at imagining, the better you are at letting my words deep inside... the better it will feel for you."

tyler definitely feels good right now. he's hardly able to pay attention at this point, but refuses to let himself fall asleep now. he must stay awake, must listen to everything josh says to him.

"so now," josh speaks, whispering directly into the boy's ear, "that you can feel the heat of my breath against your ear, where else would you like to feel that breath caressing your skin?"

tyler wants to scream. he's aching to be touched, aching to beg for it. josh's breath gives him shivers, the little hairs on his arms standing on end. he feels so tired, just wants to let himself drop. but he can't. his body won't let him. he needs to listen to every single one of josh's words, needs to feel them soaking into his skin.

"imagine my fingertips caressing you all the way down," josh murmurs, "bringing you to a wonderfully deep place. and the deeper you go, the better it feels. imagine my fingertips running over your knees, trailing to your inner thighs, and slowly inching towards your hips. but they don't get close. i curve around to the side of your thighs and rest my hands on the sides of your hips for a moment. now, imagine how nice it would be to feel the heat of my breath on certain places on your body. on your neck..."

josh pauses, exhaling onto the side of tyler's neck where he's most sensitive. the boy whines softly, desperate for more.

"on your chest..." josh continues, trailing his breath down tyler's chest and over one of his nipples.

"and maybe even just in the middle of your thigh..." the man hums, softly exhaling onto the fabric of tyler's shorts. the latter can quite clearly feel the heat of his breath through the fabric, only making him grow more desperate.

"it's just a tease," josh says, tyler able to hear the smirk behind his voice. "just a little taste of what i want to do to you... how good does it feel to have me so close to you? teasing, tempting... you can just relax, dear. are you ready for bed?"

tyler gulps, nodding slowly. is he? he kind of just desperately wants to be touched right now, but going to bed works too.

"open your eyes."

tyler does such, finding josh standing before him, glancing down with a little smile.

"how do you feel?"

"honestly? horny."

josh chuckles, easing the boy to his feet. "me too, but we need to get you to bed. we'll have plenty of time to mess around when we wake up."

tyler nods, starting for the door. he's quickly stopped, however, by josh's fingers tightening around his wrist. "where do you think you're going?"

"to bed..." tyler frowns, confused.

"don't you think you'd fall asleep much quicker with me holding you?" josh asks, taking a seat on his bed.

tyler's heart leaps, his mind spinning. he feels overwhelmed, so instead of speaking he just nods.

"well, come on then, sugar. you know i don't bite. well, i don't bite you at least," josh grins, laying back and beckoning for tyler to join him.

the younger obeys, climbing over top of josh and joining him beneath the duvet. the man's left arm wraps around tyler, holding him close as he rests his head over josh's heart. surprisingly, he actually does have a heart. tyler can hear it loud and clear, racing beneath his rib cage.

their legs tangle together, tyler's left arm resting across josh's stomach. the latter trails his fingertips against the boy's bare skin, barely giving him a slice of the touch he's so desperately craving. delicately, he peppers kisses over tyler's forehead.

"goodnight, tyler. i'll see you soon."

"night, daddy. see you in the morning."

__a/n__

PLEASE READ THIS

guys.. i wrote this last night and i'm writing this note the morning after. so i had the craziest fucking dream ABOUT THIS STORY...

i was a prostitute with like 3 other girls and TYLER was our pimp... but the girls and i left to walk around the town looking all fine and shit and when we got back to the house tyler was fucking DEAD. like someone straight up broke into our house, stabbed him, took his clothes off, cut his guts out, and stuck them in our fridge 😐 like WHAT what kinda shit is going on in my subconcious you okay buddy??