^ Ryland 🤤 (minus the tattoos)

"There's something about you in the moonlight, but your eyes go so well with the day. You won't let go of your layers, but your power can strip me away."
~Ben Platt, 'Honest Man'

~~~

*Landon's POV*

"Oh dear goddess," I groan, covering my face with my hand as I lean my back against a tree.

The Moon Goddess above seems to really like testing my self control tonight. My beautiful mate is less than fifty feet away, completely plastered and dancing provocatively with my sister. Their bodies sway to the rhythmic melodies, holding each other closely at they dance. In any other situation, I probably would've been burning with jealousy while watching Ryland dance with someone else — even if it's with my own sister. But the sight of his lean body swaying back and forth, hips rolling in circles to the music has me completely hypnotized.

Either he's too drunk to realize how tempting he looks right now, or I've severely underestimated how seductive my mate can be. Ryland lifts his head to look right in my eye as he bites down on his lower lip; his honey eyes glazed over from intoxication. And that's when I realize both previously stated options are completely true.

'Why are you still standing here?' Leo demands in my mind. 'That tree you're leaning against is not nearly as sexy as our mate!'

I put my hand on Lucca's shoulder, pulling him away from the drink he was currently downing. "I need a favor, and this will be the only time I ask something like this," I tell him, immediately piquing his interest. "I need you to go dance with Lia."

Lucca's eyes brighten as he drops the cup, stumbling over to Lia without question. I sigh and shake my head, preparing for the hundreds of apologies I'll owe Lia later. However, if she hadn't gotten Ryland drunk, I wouldn't have to resort to such tactics in the first place.

I watch in amusement as Lucca drags Lia away, leaving behind a very confused Ryland. He pouts adorably, clearly upset to have lost his dance partner. Grumbling to himself, he looks at the ground as he kicks a few stray pebbles around, not even noticing that I'm now standing right next to him.

"Need a dance partner?" I offer, making him jump in surprise.

"Babe!" Ryland's eye light up in realization, and he throws his arms around me. "You found me!"

"I've been standing right over there the entire time," I chuckle at my drunken boyfriend. "You don't remember? You looked at me several times."

Ryland blinks as he tries to recall the hazy events. "Oh! I remember now. You looked super sexy just leaning against that tree. How did you do that?"

I laugh loudly, making Ryland smile wider "I'm just awesome like that. So do you want to dance, or not?"

"Yes!" Ryland exclaims excitedly, the volume of his shout making me flinch. He drapes his arms around my neck, and I place my hands on his hips. There are couples dancing all around us; some moving romantically slow, and others grinding on each other in a way that has my face turning red.

Ryland pulls me closer to him until we're pressed flush against each other. His eyes twinkle as he presses our foreheads together, swaying his hips to the music. The alcohol on his breath makes my nose wrinkle, but the stench is quickly overpowered by his scent of vanilla and honey.

I've danced before, but never like this. Never this... intimately. With Ryland gazing deep into my eyes, our bodies moving as one. Falling into a comfortable rhythm of movements as if our souls have known since the beginning of time how to move together.

"I like you," I murmur, lightly rubbing our noses together affectionately.

Ryland giggles, his cheeks turning pink. "I like you too."

Sliding my hands back, I rest them just above his ass. Not low enough to full-on grope him in public, but enough to increase the intimacy. Ryland bites his lower lip, using his slender fingers to play with the strands of hair on the back of my head.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Ryland asks in a low, husky voice that makes Leo melt.

While the offer is extremely tempting, I'm weary of leaving when Ryland is drunk like this.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I say, and Ryland pouts. "You're pretty drunk, honeybee."

"Pleeaasseee," Ryland begs childishly. "I want to have some fun, but there are too many people around."

'Damn, he's really bold when he's drunk,' Leo laughs.

"I have a good idea of the kind of fun you have in mind, but we're not going to do anything like that while you're drunk," I state, not leaving it up for debate. I know he's saying he wants to have fun, but he's also too drunk to realize what he's saying. The alcohol is lowering his inhibitions, and I don't want him doing something he'll regret tomorrow.

"Fine," Ryland huffs. "I'll go have fun by myself!"

Before I can stop him, Ryland spins around and runs into the woods. I groan in frustration, chasing after him. It's dark, making it harder to track him down. Using my enhanced senses, I inhale deeply and catch onto the scent of alcohol, vanilla, and honey. By the time I catch up to him, he's standing next to a small lake with awe-filled eyes.

"Woah!" He cheers while staring at the lake. Turning around, he sees me watching him and grins. "Let's go swimming!"

"Ryland, you are drunk," I emphasize slowly. "I don't want to you drown yourself."

"Then it looks like you'll have to come with me," he smirks, slowly lifting his shirt over his head and dropping it onto the ground. I gulp, my eyes raking over his exposed chest and lean abdomen. His pale skin glows beneath the moonlight, highlighting the soft definitions of his muscles. Ryland kicks his shoes off, quickly stuffing his socks into his shoes. Hooking his thumbs in the waist band of his jeans, he yanks down his pants and underwear together.

"Ryland," I warn, stepping closer to him while simultaneously looking around to make sure no one can see him.

"Haven't you ever gone skinny dipping?" Ryland questions, still grinning. "Come on, summer's almost over. Time to take advantage of the warm weather while we still can."

He turns back toward the water, giving me a mouth-watering view of his exposed backside. The soft light of the moon reflects against the muscles of his back, leading down to his round ass. His pale legs are slender and long, moving slowly as he steps into the water. Ryland squeaks, breaking me out of my lustful daze.

"Cold?" I chuckle, and Ryland shakes his head.

"I just stepped on a rock. The water is pretty warm."

He wades out deeper until the water is up to his waist before turning back to smile at me.

"You coming?" Ryland tilts his head invitingly. Goddess help me, I groan inwardly. With a sigh of resignation, I strip off my clothes and leave them in a pile next to Ryland's. My mate's dark golden eyes trail down my body as I approached the water, the pink in his cheeks darkening to red. I smirk, wading through the water towards him.

"It's not nice to stare, you know?" I tease him. Ryland sticks his tongue out, splashing me in the face with the dirty lake water. I cough, wiping my face. "Ugh, you're such an asshole."

"No, but I want to get in yours."

"What??" I choke on air, face burning bright red. Ryland laughs loudly as he swims away from me, as he if didn't just casually say he wants to fuck me.

'Like I said, our mate is BOLD when he's drunk. Good luck,' Leo says in amusement before fading back to give us privacy.

I quickly swim over to Ryland, yanking him into my arms. He yelps, wrapping his legs around my waist. The water makes him weightless, and I grip under his ass for... stability. Yeah, let's go with that.

"You're a tease," I growl. "You know that, right?"

"Hey, I've been wanting to sleep with you for a while now," he points out, his words slightly slurring. "If anything, you're the tease."

"Wait a second," I frown as I suddenly remember something. "You've had sex before, right?"

"You really want to talk about that now?"

"No, what I mean is... how did you have sex before?" I question, genuinely curious. "With the collar, and everything."

"Oh," Ryland grins, moving his hands from my shoulders to wrap his arms around my neck. "Well, the first time I had sex, I was the bottom. Turns out, bottoming is a pretty intense experience. It was really hard not to get overexcited. I ended up having to push the guy away so I wouldn't get shocked. After that, I only topped. It was easier to control my excitement, and I usually just faked it after the bottom finished."

"Faked it," I echo, and Ryland nods. "Wait, have you never experienced a real orgasm?"

Ryland dips his head down to hide his deepening blush. "Besides the times I would fly solo in high school, or our first heat when I got shocked, then... no. I guess I haven't."

I frown at that, feeling very conflicted. On the one hand, I feel bad for him that he's never had a fulfilling sexual experience. But on the other hand, I'm also glad that he'll have that first experience with me.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that," I pledge, and Ryland's eyes slightly widen.

"You mean...?"

"Not right this second," I chuckle. "But... soon."

A wide smile spreads across Ryland's face, and he leans in to capture my lips in a tender kiss. He pushes his tongue into my mouth, exploring and tasting every inch. I knead his ass in my hands, making him moan into my mouth. Bucking my hips, I rub our growing erections together, making us both groan.

"If you keep doing that, I'm going to go home with blue balls," Ryland complains against my lips. I laugh softly, halting my teasing actions.

"Sorry," I murmur, pulling back to kiss his cheek.

"So, what about you?" Ryland questions.

"What about me?"

"We talked about my sexual history. What about yours?"

"Umm," I laugh nervously. "Mine's not very exciting. Easton's the only person I've ever slept with."

"Really? You haven't slept with anyone in five years? Not even a one-night stand?"

I shake my head. "I tried a handful of times, but it was usually when I had been drinking a lot and nothing ended up happening."

Ryland squirms awkwardly in my arms. "So... did you... top?" I burst out laughing, and Ryland smacks my chest. "Don't laugh! I just want to know what to... expect."

"Easton topped," I answer him, chuckling at the look of surprise on his face. "But we can decide what we're most comfortable with when the time comes."

"That sounds good to me," Ryland nods in agreement.

"Can we get out of the water now? It's cold and my balls are starting to retreat into my body."

Giggling, Ryland nods and detaches from me, swimming back to the shore. Getting dressed turns out to be a difficult task since we don't have towels to dry ourselves off first. As we start walking back to the party, Ryland latches onto my hand.

"Wait," he tug on my hand, making me stop walking. "Everything we just talked about... were you serious about it?"

I tilt my head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"You weren't just saying all that because you felt like you had to, right? Because I told you that I don't want us doing anything until we're both ready."

Cupping his cheeks, I gaze into his honey eyes. "I wouldn't have said any of that if I didn't mean it," I tell him seriously. "I may not be ready right this second, but I'm getting there."

Ryland smiles with relief, and I kiss his forehead softly.

"Now," I continue. "Let's get back before Lia murders Lucca."

~~~

It's very normal for couples to have a conversation about sex before actually doing it

This was my first time writing about skinny dipping! It was fun, I think haha

Thoughts??

Q: Who do you think will be Lia's mate?
[I know... 🤭]

See you next time, Gumballs!
-Gumbie