“That’s a thing?” Had that squeak come from him?
“What kind of second-rate one-night stands have you been having?” Ed didn’t wait for an answer. “It’s a thing I like. I—” He tugged on Pasha’s hair until Pasha tilted his head back. “I like using my mouth. Better say right now if that’s gonna be an issue.”
All Pasha could do was whimper.
“Want to get my mouth on you. Want to kiss, and lick, and bite you.” The fingers of his free hand brushed over Pasha’s nipple before he encouraged him to lift an arm. Then he pulled at armpit hair, causing sharp pinches of pleasure that swung between fucked-up and amazing. Ed’s touch lightened when he said, “Want to get my face right in here. Get you wet, and then?—”
Pasha’s laugh at his ticklish too light touch was involuntary—a loud honk that broke the moment.
Ed rocked behind him as well, laughter muffled by Pasha’s shoulder. “Okay. Where was I?”
Pasha went very still when Ed’s thumb brushed his hole all over again, circling slowly and then pressing, pressing, pressing.
“Oh, yeah. My mouth. Your body.” He maneuvered so they could kiss, his tongue pushing deep, invading until he pulled back, eyes darkly shadowed like this, lips parted and kissed plump. “Want to put my mouth on you right here.”
The pressure of his thumb was so good, and sobad.
Wonderful, and frightening.
Pasha would get away if he could. Or he’d stay and beg for some more. The jury was out until Ed said, “Maybe I’ll do you in the shower. Put my tongue inside you until you’re on your knees, and then fuck you right there in the water.” Ed’s thumb was gone, provoking a sudden choked sound that Pasha pressed into the pillow, but when his thumb returned, it was wet and slippery.
Ed pushed steadily inward, no more than a half inch, tugging at his rim—weird and wrong and so right. “I’d put my fingers and tongue there long before I even try for the first time with my cock. That sound good?” he asked as he slowly withdrew the tip of his thumb. He moved so Pasha’s head was cushioned by his bicep, and he paid Pasha’s cock attention again with his free hand, covering Pasha’s mouth when his groan of agreement was loud and guttural. “But right now, Mr. Fuck-me-hardcore-on-my-first-date, you need to shut up and slow down. This isn’t a porno or a contest. It’s real life, and it’s better.”
Two fingers, wide and slightly salty, slipped between Pasha’s lips. “Suck.”
Pasha did, his climax imminent, caught up in the fast wet sound of Ed’s hand on his cock and the feel of thick fingers in his mouth. He sucked while Ed gave subvocal orders.
“Hold your legs tighter together.”
Ed fucked through Pasha’s thighs again, keeping him exactly where he wanted, heavy breathing the only sound in the room along with intermittent soft thumps of the bed against the wall of boxes. Ed’s movements faltered when Pasha bit down and climaxed.
Pleasure surged, and Pasha let it take him, only half aware of Ed pulling free his fingers, tensing and muffling his own sounds of release in the flesh between Pasha’s neck and shoulder.
Minutes passed as they caught their breath. Pasha couldn’t hear much beyond their slowly quieting breathing. Not a single car passed anywhere close by, and the hum of the city was entirely absent. There were no blaring TVs competing like at the last bedsit he’d rented, and none of the yelling from the family next door that made something in Pasha curl tight like a clenched fist whenever he heard the children crying.
No.
This was more than an absence of noise.
This was peace.
Pasha moved when Ed wiped them both clean with a discarded T-shirt and switched off the light. When Ed settled behind Pasha again, they threaded their fingers together. If Pasha closed his eyes and listened, maybe he could just make out the sound of the sea, but even that was distant. The steady breaths of the man behind him were regular, lulling him, while music only Pasha heard began to take shape in his head, echoing the tune he’d heard Ed pick out on his guitar so often.
Ed broke their quiet spell, kissing from Pasha’s neck to his jaw, finally stretching to reach his lips. He kissed him gently one more time and then made room for Pasha to roll over.
Flushed and relaxed in soft moonlight, Ed wore contentment as easily as the camo he favored. His smile broadened, like finding Pasha in his bed was a pleasure he hadn’t expected.
Want furled inside Pasha like the spiraled head of one of the huge ferns outside in the garden. When Ed looked at him like this—happy and unguarded—that want twisted even tighter. For the first time, he wished he could stop the clock on the contest. He’d hoped winning would prove his worth and change his life for the better, but he’d turn back time right now if he could. Turn it back and revisit the auditions to make Ed look at him like this from the very first day.
He’d do it in a heartbeat, so they were right back at the start of the show rather than so close to the end.
13
ED
Ed woke when the bed sagged. Pasha sat on its edge and then pushed up to standing. His naked arse was right there and hard to resist, but he’d already stepped toward the window before Ed got a chance to smack it.
“Gotta be quicker than that if you want to tap this.”