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The two men were back in their office after Good Mythical More wrapped. Link had walked to the room with his hand over his mouth and every now and then let out a faint whimper of discomfort, which made Rhett cringe in sympathy. “Sorry I made ya laugh, buddy.”
Link slumped in his desk chair with his shoulders curled over, in stark contrast to his usual relaxed sprawl. It seemed as though every muscle in his body was tense. He’d been the same way during filming, holding himself still rather than his customary fidgeting and leaning on his arms. “S’okay,” he mumbled. “The viewers probably enjoyed seeing me in pain.”
“Well I don’t like it.”
Link raised his head and the corner of his swollen lip turned up in a smile. “Not even a little?”
“Not when it’s serious pain, man. I wish I could help.”
“I know.”
They turned to their computers and worked in silence until they got the message from Eddie that the episode was edited and posted on the private server for their review. “I’m kind of dreading this,” Link muttered as he brought up the file.
“It won’t be that bad,” Rhett assured him.
Their shoulders rubbed together as they leaned in to watch it on Link’s screen. As soon as the video cut back to the GMM desk after the intro sequence, Link cringed. “Eugh, gosh, that looks so awful.”
Rhett put a hand on his knee and squeezed gently. “Most folks are watchin’ on little screens on their phones or whatever, they probably can’t even see it.” Link folded his arms and made a small frustrated noise.
A few minutes later, after the Rhett in the video finally let Link get to the main topic of the episode, Link grumbled, “I wish you just let it go. Tellin’ people to kiss me? You probably made ‘em barf. Maybe we shouldn’t’ve even mentioned it.”
“Y’know people would’ve demanded to know what was wrong with you.”
“Well maybe you should’ve let me wear the mask.” Link leaned toward the screen and stared at himself. “It’s disgusting. It’s so gross! I’m gross. I should’ve taken the week off.”
Rhett put a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Darlin’, it’s really not that bad. Honest. Just don’t read the comments and you’ll be fine.”
Link turned to him, eyes shining with distress and embarrassment. “I’m such an idiot for letting my lips get sunburned. It’s so ugly. I hate it.”
Rhett clasped the man’s shoulder and rubbed the muscles with his thumb, trying to get the hard knots to relax. “It’s not ugly.”
Link’s swollen lower lip protruded in an involuntary pout as he looked down and away. “I’m hideous. How can you even stand to look at me?”
Rhett reached out and paused the video, then took Link’s chin gently in his fingertips and turned the man’s face back toward him. He leaned on his arms so their eyes were at the same height. “Link, you’re not hideous. You could never be hideous.” He traced his fingers along the man’s jaw before raking his hair softly away from his face. Link’s deep blue eyes regarded him with uncertainty.
Rhett stood and grasped Link’s shoulders, guiding him to his feet. “C’mere, baby.” He enfolded the man in a hug, stroking his hair as Link rested his cheek against Rhett’s soft grey v-necked shirt. After a minute, Rhett bent down and brought his lips to the firm, golden-tanned skin under Link’s ear. He took a deep breath of the sweet musk of the man’s shampoo.
Link sighed softly and tilted his head, yielding. He purred as Rhett’s mouth skimmed along the side of his neck, down to the collar of his periwinkle-blue t-shirt. Rhett bent down further to nibble at his sharp Adam’s apple before kissing his way up the underside of the man’s jaw.
When he straightened back up, he reached up and gently removed Link’s glasses, depositing them on the desk nearby. Link blinked up at him. The man’s sapphire eyes were shining with newly sparked desire and his hair had fallen down across his forehead, giving a soft frame to his strong nose and graceful cheekbones. “You’re beautiful,” Rhett told him.
Link blushed and turned away, but Rhett bent down to maintain eye contact. “I mean it. You are.”
The other man smiled tentatively. His swollen lips curved around the words, “I wanna kiss you so badly.”
“Guess you’ll have to save up all the kisses for when you’re better,” Rhett rumbled. “But I don’t have to wait to kiss you… at least, everywhere but your lips.”
Link chuckled, his despair slowly transforming into delight. Rhett moved to the other side of the man’s neck and gave it a similar treatment, running his lips along its curve and allowing his beard to tickle the skin for good measure. He held Link close and nuzzled his hairline while the other man melted against him. He pulled back slightly and they stared into each other’s eyes, close enough to taste each other’s breath but with a safe distance between their lips. “Such a tease,” Link murmured.
“Normally I enjoy teasing you,” Rhett admitted, “But this time it hurts me too.” He took the bottom of Link’s t-shirt and pulled it up, carefully drawing it off over his head with the other man’s assistance. He guided Link to the desk and leaned the other man’s backside against it so he was half sitting on it. He bent down and began caressing one of Link’s collarbones with the tip of his tongue.
Link closed his eyes and let his head fall back, luxuriating in the sensation. Rhett cupped the man’s lower back in his hands and felt the pain-born tightness of the muscles slowly fading, replaced by a new and more pleasurable kind of tension. He moved to the other collarbone and nibbled it gently, then nuzzled the soft hair over Link’s sternum.
Link’s breath quickened as Rhett worked his way down, giving the man’s belly button a coy kiss as he unbuttoned his jeans. He drew down the zipper and rolled the waistband low on the other man’s hips. He kissed the bulge in Link’s underwear with teasing lightness as the man squirmed, hands curling around the edge of the desk.
Rhett lowered himself to his knees and extracted Link’s manhood from the straining fabric. He continued his kisses along the taut skin of its shaft, alternating with light touches with his tongue and the ticklish brush of his beard.
Link’s fingers ran through Rhett’s hair, tugging gently in time with his soft noises of desire. Rhett kissed every part of Link he could reach, smiling at the other man’s impatience. As he did so, he reached up and spread his large hands over his lover’s chest, cupping his ribs in his palms and feeling them hitch and quake. Finally he relented and took Link’s cock in his mouth, working his lips down the shaft as the man groaned in appreciation.
Still Rhett took his time, enjoying the sensation of Link’s hot velvety skin on his tongue and the unique savory taste of him. Link braced his palms on the desk and leaned on them, lolling his head back and closing his eyes as his breath came in ragged gasps. “Oh gosh, oh yes,” he breathed. “Oh, Rhett.”
Link’s hips twitched as Rhett took him deep into his throat again and again, working his tongue in the practiced ways he knew the man liked most. When he could tell the end was near, Rhett withdrew and climbed back to his feet. He wrapped one arm around Link’s back and held him as he stroked him with his other hand. Link encircled his arms around Rhett’s waist and clutched him, gasping and quivering with ecstasy. He buried his face in Rhett’s chest in a futile attempt to stifle his moans.
Rhett reached up into Link’s hair and gently pulled him back so he could look at his face. Link’s eyes were glazed with desire and he panted with his tongue pressed against his lower lip. There was a flush across his cheeks and his skin glimmered with a faint sheen of sweat. Rhett leaned down and kissed along his jawline and the top of his neck, sensing the rush of Link’s pleasure building to its height. “You’re so beautiful, kitten,” Rhett murmured. “So beautiful, my darlin’, my love.”
Link turned his face again into Rhett’s chest, drawing a huge gasp as his body tensed. His fingers dug into Rhett’s back and he pressed himself tightly to the larger man in a desperate grip as he came. He moaned and shuddered as Rhett caressed his hair and kissed the top of his head. Eventually Link’s muscles went slack in Rhett’s embrace, his pleasure spent. He cuddled into Rhett’s chest with soft, happy noises, mindlessly kneading the man’s lower back with his knuckles.
Rhett held him for some time, enveloping him in his long arms and trying to keep the rest of the world at bay for as long as possible. Eventually he reached for the box of tissues on the desk and wiped off his hands, then offered it to Link. The other man cleaned himself up and put his pants back in order. He kept his shirt off as he returned to Rhett’s arms, sighing with contentment as the other man stroked the bare skin of his back.
He reached for the button on Rhett’s jeans, but Rhett stayed his hand. “Save it for when we can kiss,” he said. “I just wanted to do something nice for you.”
Link pouted briefly, but then put his arm back around Rhett and purred, “Well, it was very nice.”
Rhett chuckled softly. “Feeling better?”
“Oh, yes,” Link murmured against his chest.
“Do you believe me now?”
Link leaned away so he could look up at Rhett, his skin still flushed and his hair tousled with sweat. “That I’m beautiful?”
Rhett couldn’t imagine anything more true. He kissed Link on the nose. “Yes.”
Link’s lips curved into a soft smile. “If you say so, Rhett.”
“I do.”