Arrow Inferno
Chapter 57: Stanley ‘STAN’ Norris vs. Ian ‘WILL’ Williams ~ Relief!

***

Will came awake slowly. His eyes shifted around the room. "Oh, shit I slept." He croaked with a surprised frown. He turned his head to look at the bedside clock. It was a quarter past two p. m. "I slept," he repeated with a smile. Then he remembered. "Mum..." All that she'd told him came flooding back. "Oh, my god." He whimpered shakily. "She's at peace now. She's at peace."

But even though Will felt relief, with it was great sadness. The urge to cry was overwhelming and he didn't fight it. Deep wracking sobs tore out of him and it felt good to let it out. All the pressure he'd felt since he got back home seemed to flow out of him as he sobbed. When he felt Stan getting into bed beside him, he voluntarily moved into his arms and allowed himself to be comforted. Stan's arms tightened around Will's trembling body and drew him closer to his chest. He didn't speak. He rubbed his mate on the back gently and simply allowed him to let it all out. When Will eventually quieted down, both men sat in a comfortable silence until Will broke it.

"I'm hungry." He croaked, his voice scratchy from crying so much.

Stan laughed softly as he combed his fingers soothingly through Will's hair. "Let's see... There's beef and mushrooms with mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, chicken potpie, meatloaf topped with the sweetest sauce you've ever tasted," he chuckled when Will's stomach growled. "Hmmm someone needs food. There's pea soup with ham, Jambalaya...that's the closest to Jollof I could get..."

"Wait, wait, wait...you have all that food in this house?" Will stared up at Stan as if he'd lost his mind.

"That and more, yes."

"Who's going to eat all that shit? Did you cook all that?"

"Nope, I ordered it."

"For real? And what made you think I would even want to eat?"

Stan shrugged, "Because you slept."

"Right. Alright, go on. What else do you have?" He sat up.

"Pizza, burger, lobster roll...and some others." He watched as Will got out of the bed.

"Why did you get so much food though?"

"I didn't know what you'd want to eat so I thought I'd give you options."

"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." Will stretched.

Stan smirked when his eyes dropped to Will's groin. "Are we still talking about food?"

"What did you expect?" Will chuckled as he started for the bathroom. "You were touching me."

"You call that touching?" Stan got off the bed. "Don't keep too long in there or else..."

"Or else what?" Will called out from the bathroom.

"I'll have to come in there and get you."

"Tempting."

Stan shook his head in amusement as he left the room. A frown however marred his features when he thought about his big reveal. He wondered whether Will would still feel aroused if he heard what he had to say. 'Hope he has no guns in this house.'

'Who cares?' His wolf chuckled.

Both man and beast burst into laughter.

**

In the shower, Will stood still as the warm spray rinsed the suds from his body. He felt so relaxed, relieved, and content. Just thinking about his mother brought a smile to his face unlike before. Speaking to her in his dream had been a ray of sunshine in his recent gloomy life. As the water pounded over him, he thought about all that his mother had said. Although it had been a dream, he had a feeling everything had been real. Why else was he suddenly back to himself after that? But a witch?

"Damn, mum." He murmured as he turned off the shower.

After shaving and applying what he needed, Will entered the bedroom holding a towel around his waist just as Stan entered it too to find out why he'd taken so long.

"That's not mine." Will finally noticed what Stan was wearing. He ran his eyes appreciatively over the black jeans and brown fitted polo shirt. "Love the polo."

"Thanks. Someone brought me some clothes whilst you slept." Stan explained. "What have you been doing in there all this while?" He looked curious. That had been a really long shower.

"I was thinking." He tightened the towel around his waist and fixed his hands on his hips. "I dreamt about my mother."

"You always do." Stan shrugged.

"Well, this time I got to talk to her." He beamed.

"Oh, finally." Stan folded his arms across his chest and fixed interested blue eyes on Will.

"Finally! And it was good. Really good." He smiled. "I feel okay, Stan. In fact, I'm so okay that I wouldn't mind that kiss." He started towards Stan.

Stan stifled a moan when he felt a sudden spiral of desire curling through him at his mate's words. "Not that hungry anymore?" he murmured when Will got to him.

"Food can wait." He reached up to run a thumb along Stan's lower lip. "I want that kiss." He whispered and then gasped when Stan captured his thumb in his mouth and sucked on it with slow sensuality, looking into Will's eyes the entire time. Will got hard so quickly his eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, shit!"

Stan released the thumb and then bent to kiss Will's shoulder. "You smell so good." His hand moved to Will's head and his fingers slipped into his hair in a possessive hold. Then he began to drop kisses along his jaw, cheek... "hmmm, I missed you." Then he captured Will's earlobe in his warm mouth and sucked on it.

"Stan..." Will whispered shakily as his eyes fluttered shut. Stan was an expert when it came to scrambling his senses. And he had missed that.

The towel around Will tented obscenely but Stan didn't seem to even notice. He released Will's earlobe and moved to his sensually parted lips. His tongue flicked over Will's lower lip, a delicious shiver rippling through him when Will's tongue darted out to meet his. Both men shook with the need and anticipation for that intimate touch. With a helpless moan, their lips finally met in a tender caress.

Bearing a mate's mark was not for mere identification. It linked the two souls involved and made each feel not just their own pleasure, but also the pleasure of their mate. This accord usually resulted in sensuality so powerful it could bring people to their knees. That was exactly what happened when Stan and Will kissed for the first time after Will got marked. They were both blown away by the magnitude of feeling that rippled through them.