Adriel pressed his face into Landen's chest. Breathed him in. Let the warmth of him seep into all the cold places.
"I liked it when you touched me," he said into Landen's skin. Quiet. Muffled. "All of it. Even when I got scared. Even when I tried to hide. I liked it."
Landen's arms tightened around him.
"Good," he said. "I liked touching you."
Adriel huffed a laugh against his chest. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Landen's voice was warm. "Especially the parts you tried to hide."
Adriel's laugh turned into something else. Something that hurt and felt good all at once.
They lay like that for a while. Landen's hand moving on his back now. Slow circles. Grounding. Adriel's breathing evening out against his chest.
"Can I ask you something?" His voice came out quiet. He wasn't sure he wanted the answer, but the question had been sitting in his chest, pressing against his ribs, demanding to be asked.
"Anything," Landen said.
"Yesterday. At the office." He paused. "You didn't... you barely looked at me. All day. After..." He trailed off, unable to finish.
Landen's hand stilled on his back for just a fraction of a second. Then it started moving again, slower now.
"I know," Landen said quietly.
Adriel waited.
"It wasn't because I didn't want to," Landen continued. His voice was low, careful. "It was the opposite."
Adriel turned slightly, trying to see his face in the dark. "What do you mean?"
Landen was quiet for a long moment. "I couldn't look at you because I knew if I did, I wouldn't be able to stop."
Adriel's breath caught.
"I spent the whole day fighting myself," Landen said. "Every time I heard your voice in the hallway. Every time I caught a glimpse of you at your desk. Every time I walked past and smelled your shampoo or saw the way you bit your pen when you were concentrating." He paused. "I wanted you so badly it was physically painful. And I knew, Iknew, that if I let myself look at you, really look, I'd lose it."
Adriel's heart was pounding again.
"I was afraid," Landen continued, "that if I let myself get close to you, I'd drag you into my office and fuck you against my desk and not care who saw or heard."
Adriel's cheeks were flaming. He could feel the heat of them, could feel it spreading down his neck, across his chest. His cock, which had been soft and spent, was stirring again; responding to the sound of Landen's voice, to the want in it, to the image he'd painted.
Landen noticed.
Of course he noticed. His hand had stilled on Adriel's back, and Adriel could feel him shift slightly, could feel the way his body reacted to the change in Adriel's.
"Adriel," Landen said. His voice was lower now. Rougher.
Adriel could just make out the shape of him, the gleam of his eyes, the way his breathing had changed.
"You have no idea," Landen murmured, "what you do to me."
Adriel's answer was lost. Lost in the press of Landen's mouth against his, in the sudden heat of the kiss, in the way Landen's hand came up to grip his jaw and hold him in place.
Adriel kissed him back just as desperately. His hands found Landen's shoulders, gripped them, pulled him closer. Landen made a sound against his mouth, low and rough, and then he was moving, turning them, shifting so that he was atop Adriel, his weight settling over him, his thighs bracketing Adriel's hips.
He broke the kiss just long enough to look down at him. The dark hid details, but Adriel could feel his gaze. Could feel the heat of it, the want.