Redemption - Garrett Leigh Page 0,78
that shit.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Luis leaned against the door behind him, still pale and looking like a man about to hurl his guts.
Paolo got up and fetched water from the kitchen. Luis took it with hands shakier than Paolo had ever seen and drank it down in one gulp.
“You want more?” Paolo asked.
“No.”
“Anything else you need?”
“No.”
“Then speak.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think?” Paolo’s patience snapped, and his shout rang out in the dark bedsit. “Because you ran out on me again, and you’ve come back looking like you’ve fucking died twice already, and Jesus fucking Christ, is that blood on your clothes?”
Luis’s gaze flickered to the ominous stains on his jeans. “Do you really want the truth? Cos if I tell you, I can’t take it back.”
“Is it worse than the shit you’ve already told me?”
“I don’t think so, not for me, at least. But it could be if the police find out.”
“Did you hurt someone?”
“No.”
“You promise?”
Luis snorted out a humourless laugh. “Is that all you’re afraid of?”
“Not even close. If you knew everything I was afraid of, your brain would explode.”
“It already did.” Luis tapped the scar on the side of his head. “But we’ve done that story already.”
“Actually, we haven’t. You told me you got hit with a bar and it was Dante’s fault. You never said why.”
“I don’t know why.”
“For real?”
“For real. It was a beef I didn’t know about until after.”
They were getting off track. Maybe one day, Paolo would want to know every little thing that had shaped Luis into the man Paolo loved, but right now, only the last twenty-four hours mattered.
Paolo helped Luis up and guided him to his bed. He sat him down and fetched more water.
Luis waved it away. Paolo set the glass on the windowsill and pointed to Luis’s stained clothes. “Take them off. I’ll put them in the wash.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Take them off.”
Luis stood, pulled his T-shirt over his head, and unbuttoned his jeans.
Paolo tried not to stare as the jeans slid lower and lower, but god, it was hard. Even dishevelled, dirty, and deflective, Luis was insanely attractive. I wish fucking him would make it all go away. But as the errant thought crossed his mind, he nixed it. Sex wasn’t a substitute for honesty, and it never would be. He needed the truth, and he needed it now.
He took Luis’s clothes to the washing machine and set the load to wash on the hottest cycle. The machine whirred to life, and Paolo watched, lost, as it filled with water. Luis called to him like a siren, but Paolo was drowning. Whatever he tells me, I won’t know what to do. I can’t—
Cool arms slid around Paolo’s waist. He gasped, shock rippling through him as Luis melded to his body from behind, pressing his naked form against Paolo’s coat and rough jeans.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I keep doing this to you.”
Paolo gritted his teeth. “Doing what? I don’t even know what’s happened.”
“I know.”
Luis pressed harder against Paolo, the sharp lines of his body, from his shoulders to his abs and strong thighs, digging into Paolo’s flesh, warming him with the molten promise of fire. Paolo closed his eyes and leaned into the pleasure, the heat of Luis’s body going straight to his dick, clouding his brain. No. He shook his head to clear it, but his cock hardened all the same, and fresh anger surged through him, at himself as much as Luis.
He spun around, pushing Luis away. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Luis said flatly. “Touch you?”
“As if I don’t want you to touch me.”
“Then what do you want? Me to spill my guts a thousand times until you finally realise I’m not worth all the bullshit I bring to the table?”
“Yeah, it’s that fucking easy.”
Paolo made for the door, but Luis caught his arm and dragged him back. “Then let it happen.”
“Let what happen?”
Luis pulled Paolo close enough to palm the bulge in Paolo’s jeans. “This. I know you want me, and you have to know how much I want you too.”
Of course Paolo knew. Luis’s rock-hard dick was hard to miss, and . . . impossible to ignore. He let Luis draw them together, and his hands found their way to Luis’s hips, sealing the deal until they were pressed against each other so tight Paolo shuddered and sank his teeth into Luis’s neck.
Luis groaned and arched, offering Paolo more of his neck.
Paolo bit deeper and sucked, tasting blood, as Luis writhed against him.