Heartbeat Repeating - E.M. Lindsey Page 0,85
with it. A year of being together—properly together—and Avery still isn’t tired of having that man all to himself any time the opportunity arises.
Like now, he thinks with a smile, because warm arms snake around him and he’s pulled back against a firm, broad chest. Alejandro’s beard scrapes along his neck as he kisses him right over his pulse, and Avery feels at peace. It’s been a tense couple of months, really, and Avery doesn’t blame his lover for being a little bit restrained.
March was the first time Avery got to meet most of Alejandro’s family—and that came with his ex, and the new husband, and some wild kids who treated everything like an American Ninja Warrior obstacle course. Alejandro had been anxious the entire time. His OCD flared in ways that left him snappy and uncomfortable. His eyes were never really still, his hands tapping, nose twitching, jaw clenched.
He didn’t let Avery out of his sight, but being around him became unbearable because everything pissed him off to the point that they’d spend all night fighting over imaginary scenarios and absurd what-ifs. Avery tried to understand, of course, but the more he reached out, the more his lover pulled away.
The only time he felt settled was visiting Gabrielle’s grave. Alejandro held his hand and told stories about her birthday parties and how much she loved horses, and how she only ate cupcakes upside down. The ache was still there, the grief, but it had settled into something manageable. And for the first time, Alejandro looked like he wanted to live through it.
It was in the first few weeks after they got home that he realized Alejandro was waiting on edge for him to leave. Like he assumed Avery found it all to be just too damn much and he wasn’t going to stick around for the hard parts. But instead of making some big declaration, Avery just got on with life as normal. He kissed Alejandro when he wanted to be kissed, he held him when he wanted to be held.
He let the older man strip him bare and turn him around and fuck him stupid over the kitchen table with his arms restrained and his legs spread so far, his hips ached the next day. And bit by bit, Alejandro started to let go. He started to breathe easy and he stopped looking around every corner for the one thing that was going to send Avery screaming into the night.
And now they’re on Crete.
“What do you think?” Alejandro asks, his lips moving against his neck.
Avery closes his eyes and loses himself in the feel of Alejandro’s fingers grazing over his silk robe. “I think this is probably the best thing we have ever done together.”
“Really?” There’s a smile in Alejandro’s voice, and a hint of teeth against his shoulder. “Even better than the time in Vermont when…”
“Yes,” Avery says, but the words come out breathy because there had been silk panties and fishnets and an orgasm so hard, he saw stars. “But only because I brought the panties.”
Alejandro groans and Avery can feel his dick stiffen and throb a little. “Do you think your friends can amuse themselves for a while?”
Avery had wanted coffee and breakfast, but now all he can think about is those wandering hands and hungry mouth. He shrugs, then steps back, and he doesn’t put up even a hint of a fight when Alejandro locks the terrace doors and closes the curtains. The sound of metal rings scraping across the curtain rod is startling. It feels like lightning jumping over his skin that is still too primed for touch.
A year of not having any, and a year of having all he could ever ask for, but Avery is still hungry for this man and he thinks he probably always will be. The first graze of fingers drags a moan out of him as Alejandro’s hands go for the tie on his robe. It’s a loose knot and comes undone almost immediately, and then those clever, perfect fingers part the fabric. His nails are blunt and buffed, but they still drag a little as he scrapes over Avery’s hair just below his navel.
“I love you.” The words ghost over his collarbone just before Alejandro leans in and sinks his teeth into the soft skin just below his throat. Avery can’t stop his groan, but he doesn’t care if people can hear him. He’s in love—though the words sound pathetic to his ears, because a single