Sid flushed and bit his lip, grounding himself in the sting as Benjamin shot him a strange look.
“Are you okay?”
“Course I am. Said it yourself, I’m the picture of fucking health.”
Benjamin sighed. “And good humour, clearly. I get the hint; I’ll leave you to it.”
He walked away. Sid watched him go, then returned to his work with his head too full of Dante to feel bad about biting Benjamin’s head off.
I want to kiss him again.
Stop.
You know you can’t.
A week ago, that would’ve been it—until the next time his imagination got away from him. But...
“...you’d be the teacher, I’d be the student. The rest of it wouldn’t matter.” God, what a fantasy. Sid had thought of little else since that night in Dante’s living room, and as his body recovered from relapse, growing stronger with each day that passed, the voice in his head got louder and louder.It doesn’t have to be a fantasy. He wants it. You want it. Where’s the harm?
Fuck, where did he start? How about the fact that Dante was more vulnerable than he’d ever admit? If things ended badly or got out of hand, what happened to him? Where did he go? Where would he work? Where would helive?
But it’s just sex. There’s nothing to end. Just bang each other until it gets boring.
Sid snorted, glad he was alone.Boring. Yeah, right. Even with Sid’s unpredictable dick, he already knew nothing about hooking up with Dante would be dull.
More heat flooded him as he worked, the good kind—thebestkind—that kept his blood pumping and his joints supple. Despite his best efforts to focus on bloom patterns and soil density, the fantasy expanded in full colour, skin on skin, flesh on flesh. Muscle and bone entwining until their nerves and senses were so overloaded there was nothing left but the endgame.
Jesus.Sid’s hand shook as he sprinkled seeds into the earth. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d come inside a man—actually, he could, but it was so long ago the hazy memories felt like a vintage film and nothing like the 4K-quality reveries he’d been having about Dante since that night.
Sinceforever. Admit it. You wanted him from the start. Sid knew it like he knew plants needed water, and Dante knew it too because Sid had told him. Because apparently smoking skunk with Dante made him superfucking chatty.
Sid finished his seed sowing, and tidied up the ornamental paving with a broom, enjoying the newfound fluidity in his limbs. Looking back, as ever, it was now obvious that he’d been heading into a relapse for weeks before it had happened, and it felt good to be on the other side.
Better than good.
Almost as good as—
Dear god, give it a fucking rest.
Shaking his head, Sid made his way back to the tool shed, keeping a sharp eye out for Dante’s chestnut hair. It was longer now than when he’d arrived and had started to wave at the ends and catch highlights from the sun. Sid saw that hair in his dreams, awake and asleep, so much so that he saw Dante around every corner, even when he was nowhere to be found.
His handiwork was everywhere, though, as Sid had discovered over the last few days, from the meticulously deadheaded dahlias to the repaired trellises and replanted raspberry canes that had slipped Sid’s mind. He’d even pruned the trained orchard trees, which Sid wouldn’t have done for another few weeks, but on reflection, agreed with he Dante’s judgement.How did I ever manage without him?
Just fine, as it happened, most of the time, but he couldn’t deny Dante had been a godsend since he’d arrived, and Sid couldn’t envisage ever letting him go.
But he will go, eventually, won’t he? His release scheme will end and he’ll leave.
Sid blanked the thought out as fast as his Dante-fuelled brain would allow, but not fast enough to stop the horny devil on his shoulder sitting up and paying closer attention.
If he’s leaving anyway, where’s the harm in hooking up? He’d take any awkwardness with him when he leaves, and you’d never have to see him again. Sid had imagined Dante in many different ways, but never once as the kind of dude who visited stately homes for fun.
Sid’s phone rang in his pocket, buzzing and beeping. The vibration against his thigh made his skin crawl, and he fumbled to retrieve it before it set off a full-blown muscle spasm.
He answered it without looking at the screen. “Hello?”
Anna laughed. “Gosh, you almost sound cheerful.”
“I am cheerful. The sun is shining and I can walk from one end of the garden to the other without falling over my own feet.”