Saving Grapes - Madeline Kirby Page 0,21

time, and soon.

Thom traced the outline of Ben’s ear with a fingertip. “You did just fine, but give me a little time to recover and we can give it another go tonight.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, but in the meantime, is there any reason I can’t kiss you all over?”

Thom flushed. “No,” he managed to whisper, “not that I can think of.”

Thom was embarrassed to ask; he didn’t want to sound clingy or jealous, but he had to know. “Are you going to see Ross again?” He thought he sounded pretty casual.

Ben chuckled and rolled onto his side facing Thom. Propping himself up on one elbow he looked down at Thom and trailed his free hand down the center of Thom’s chest to run his fingers through the thick trail of hair extending down from the other man’s navel. “Jealous?”

“No,” but Thom was pretty sure he wasn’t fooling anybody.

“Too bad,” Ben leaned over to leave a trail of kisses along Ben’s collarbone. “I think I’d like it if you were a little jealous.”

“Okay, fine, I’m jealous. Okay? I’m jealous.”

“No, I’m not seeing him again. I hadn’t planned to see him again.”

“But you were smiling, and you kissed him. You looked like you had a good time.”

“I did have a good time, but I’m not interested in him like that, and he knew it. But he wanted to kiss me, and as far as I knew, I had no reason not to kiss him.” Ben shrugged. “But he wasn’t what I wanted. Wasn’t who I wanted. Get it?” Ben held Thom’s gaze, “I’m tired of playing games and hiding behind responsibilities, Thom. Give us a chance and don’t freak out on me in the morning.”

A little dazed, Thom just nodded.

“Good. No more talking now. You wore me out, and I need my beauty sleep.”

Thom wasn’t sure how much sleep he’d get, with his mind racing and Ben in his arms, but his energetic young lover had worn him out and sleep came more easily than he expected. His last coherent thought was that Chuck would probably kill him, but he just didn’t care.

Thom tried not to freak out the next morning, he really did. When he awoke and felt a warm body pressed against his side, his first instinct was to push closer into that warmth. Then the full memory of the night before came flooding in and he froze. What have I done? He thought. Ben shifted, making a soft snuffling sound, but didn’t wake. Okay, I promised not to freak out. We’re adults. We knew what we were doing, we made this decision. Just be cool, Thom. It’s just sex. Okay, maybe not just sex. Maybe if I act like it’s no big deal I can get through the day.

Ben shifted again, turning towards Thom and opening his eyes. And there was that smile, the one with the dimple. “Hey,” he whispered.

Thom swallowed hard, “Hey.”

“Are you freaking out?”

“No.”

“Liar.”

“Maybe just a little? But only on the inside.”

The dimple got deeper, “But that’s where it matters, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart? Ordinarily Thom would have cringed at the endearment, but in Ben’s husky morning voice, with that southern drawl, it made him shiver instead.

“Are you cold? Shall I warm you up?” Ben’s hand was already snaking down between them, finding Thom’s morning semi and bringing it to full attention with only a few strokes. “Maybe if I remind you of how good last night was, you’ll forget about freaking out?”

“Um… maybe?” Honestly, he was still freaking out a little, but this felt too good to pass up, and then he felt the wet heat of Ben’s mouth around his cock, and the tip of Ben’s tongue teasing the slit, and that took all his attention.

Thom spent all day almost, but not quite, freaking out. He and Ben were working side by side in the office most of the day, and every time he started to tense up, Ben would notice. His usual method of getting Thom to relax was to kiss him – just take Thom’s face in those big, callused hand of his, and kiss him until Thom responded. Then he’d sit back with that dimple in his cheek and ask, “Better now?”

After lunch, Ben decided stronger measures were in order, and Thom was treated to a blow-job, right there in the office, sitting in his creaky old desk chair. When it was over, Ben sat back on his heels, wiped his lips with the back of his hand, and pinned Thom