at the emptying crowd. The lights still twinkled, but the distance made it feel different. As if he were watching over the world below.
He glanced over at Gabriel. The man sat there, watching him. Waiting. Ben signed, “We’re not moving. Is something wrong?”
Gabriel shook his head. “I slipped him some cash so he’d stop us at the top.”
The handshake and whispered words. His Gabriel was no angel.
Ben smiled and hooked his finger in a come here gesture.
As if waiting for the command, a split second later, Gabriel was on him, crushing their mouths together. The heat, the spark, and the fire that erupted were powerful and suffocating.
And he wanted more.
He gripped Gabriel’s hair, pulling him closer, turning his head, and holding him in place as he opened his mouth and surrendered. He welcomed every lick and bite Gabriel offered and returned the favor in kind as his heart feverishly pounded and his pulse sprinted. Flattening his hand against the side of Gabriel’s neck, each moan, groan, and growl vibrating against his palm morphed into each other, ebbing and flowing in sync with each swipe of their tongues. The kiss slowed to a gentle brush of lips, then deepened and sped into a hungry feast.
Ben tilted his head back, relishing the slow biting kisses along his jaw and neck. Lost in the swirl of need and want spinning his thoughts and heating his body, he lazily opened his eyes. A whisper of a breeze skated across his heated skin as another tender kiss pressed against his neck.
Everything faded into a puzzle of perfection with the star-filled sky above and the twinkle of lights below. Their little private space in the quiet universe.
He ran his fingers through Gabriel’s hair in a tender caress and tilted his face up. Their eyes met, their gazes saying more than any words or signs could convey. Ben released a shaky breath and traced Gabriel’s dimple before leaning in and sealing their mouths in another kiss he would always remember.
Julian knocked on the door as Ben ran his fingers through his hair. This was the third place they had visited and the last one on the short list he had assembled that morning.
A strong hand on his shoulder stilled him. “Stop it. You’re making me nervous.”
He nodded. Minutes after waking that morning, he had gone through the local rentals that had posted that Sunday. After marking a few listings and begging Julian and Matt to schedule the viewing appointments for him, he started planning a budget. With his sister no longer willing to take him in, he had one month to find a place he could afford on his own once his term at Halfway House was completed.
The door opened and a gray-haired woman peeked through the narrow opening. She exchanged a few words with Julian, then shut the door again, reopening it wider after having removed the chain. Her narrow gaze ping-ponged between them. Ben couldn’t blame her. Two guys at her front door likely didn’t instill much trust.
She walked out of her house and shut the door behind her, locking it before she took another step. “The room is in the back.” She led them around to the other side of the house to the single-car garage. After unlocking a narrow side door, sunlight peeked in and revealed the garage had been converted into a bedroom. On the small side table, she switched on the light. She walked over to another round table and did the same. The battery-powered lamps filled the room with dull blue tones. It was depressing but fitting for the small space. Four steps into the room would land him on the twin-size mattress butting against the wall. Two steps to his right was the bathroom, more like a stall-sized room that doubled as both a shower and toilet.
He rubbed his arms and glanced over to Julian, catching the tail end of their conversation. “…only battery powered?”
The old woman shook her head. “He can use the hot water on a schedule but I’m not paying a high power bill. So it’s limited.”
And hot. Ben tugged the collar of his T-shirt.
“This isn’t up to code, ma’am.”
“Are you the code enforcer now? You and your son can leave. Get out.”
Julian’s jaw clenched, maybe at the age reference or at the woman’s words and attitude. Ben didn’t have to follow the entire conversation to know that Julian’s patience had been tested. Ben tugged on Julian’s arm and led them outside. He had barely survived